I'm looking to buy an inexpensive poker table or poker table top to make home games a bit more professional.

I don't want to throw money away on tat and I don't want to spent mega$$ on a top of the line model.

I was looking at http://www.amazon.co.uk/FOLDING-POKE...7106623&sr=8-4 for £54 + free shipping

Is there any big downsides to having a table top rather than a poker table?
Is there anything wrong with/disadvantages with this table that are not obvious?
What would the differences be between this table top and a standard casino poker table?

Is this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nuts-Pok...7106623&sr=8-5 the same quality table with metal folding legs? Does not seem worth an extra £45 if that's the case.

Help and advice required, thank you

I will probably get flamed for this but so be it. My wife is handy with a sewing machine. She made a "cover" for our dining room table. The cover has ties at all 4 corners and two ties that go under the table. The cover is padded slightly for "feel". Works great, and cost about $25.00CAD.

any poker table that you buy in that price range will be fairly... uh... entry-level. The main problem is that poker tables are large and heavy when made reasonably well, so they don't fit the modern manufacturing model of mass-production overseas. Shipping them to the buyers pretty effectively breaks the economics.

The type you link are a little useful for getting a game started, and a step up from a hard-surface kitchen table, but really not better than putting a sheet (ideally with a blanket for padding) on top of a regular table. Done well on a solid table, the blanket-and-sheet would actually be nicer.

consider a neoprene table topper, or poker hoody. The first style would be my personal recommendation for you.

If you really want a purpose-made poker table, now or in the future, I highly recommend building your own or getting one made locally. Not only can you build a much better table for the same cost as buying one made somewhere else, but you get to choose the design and materials.

Also check the used internet market in your area. I've seen really good deals on tables.

What size/shape dining table do you have? Does it have central pedestal(s) or legs at the corners?

How many players are you looking to seat?
Rotating deal?

This is my dining table:


I'm looking to seat between 6-8 players comfortably (10 at a real push)

Yes, rotating deal

^^ Upgrading is a good choice. For that price + free shipping, it will do what you need it to do.

If you're looking for higher quality, if you have any craftsmanship abilities (and/or friends that can help), you can build a solid, good-looking table for about 125-150 Euros (or $250).

what do you mean upgrading is a good choice?

I don't understand your advice

That looks about 36"x24" to me.

Being so small makes any topper solution questionable. You will struggle with a cheapo folding topper because it will flex and bend up. Even a solid one-piece topper will be a bit unstable sitting on that.


Can you live with a bigger dining table?

If so, I would buy something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320830508670

And then you can simply roll out a piece of fabric backed foam for a poker hoody effect but at a cost of only £10 (make 2, a bigger one for when the table is extended)

Voila, you have a 7/8 seater and a 9/10 seater and a dining table you can have guests at all for £60

I meant purchasing an entire table would be better than get a table top. The table is on the smallish side that part of the table top would hang off the sides.

I envision one person pressing down on the topper (using it as a support to get up) and seeing it topple over.

For the two choices you listed I would rather buy a piece of fleece like the blankets. It has some thickness to it and is a good surface for cards as compared to the choices you gave.

I took people's point about the table top being too big for the dining table I have, but I have a much bigger coffee table and bought the table top for that.



I have the sofa for people to sit at, and a few stools and a bench for the other sides of it.

Not ideal for people's backs, but it's better than the usual place we play (on another guy's coffee table)

My next question is this: the drink holders, should I let people use them? If beer is spilled on the felt how easy is it to clean?

That looks really uncomfrotable. My back would be sore after about an hour. You are better off buying some cheap folding table and putting the top on that.

And the cup holders are basically useless except maybe to be used as a place to hold your keys. Don't use them!