Octagon Poker Table DIY Build

Finished product first! I Played poker at a friend's house on March 10th. He invited us over to show us a new poker table that he built and it inspired me to build my own. I started on March 17, 2018 and got to this point on April 10,2017. Worked on it mainly at night, after the kids went to bed (roughly about an hour each night) and I had a few opportunities to work on it on a couple of weekends. Started off as a casual build until I had the idea to have a poker game on Friday the 13th. I started off following a design by Brian Nelson (Google Octagon Poker Table), but looking back, I went off on my own after figuring out the sub-table measurements. Everything else was built from my head and from my own measurements and design. Loved the idea of having lights under the rail so that was the path I took. I also added USB ports for charging phones because my phone always dies at the poker table. I built the table from read oak (event the sub-table is made of red oak plywood.

So, I got this far before I thought about sharing this on imgur (sorry, I was really eager to get going). The base of this table was one that was built for another project that I hadn't completed yet. I decided to axe that project and use the base of that table for this one. This piece was also constructed from red oak. The base is hollow which made it easier to run power cables through it for the LEDs and the charging station that gets mounted later.

With the sub-table cut out based on Brian Nelson's measurements and attached to the base, I pretty much abandoned his plans from here. At this point, I didn't know what I wanted to do from here. I actually toiled for a week trying to figure out if I wanted to do a kidney bean shaped table with a dealer cut out or an octagon table. The base of the table from my other stalled project was ultimately what sent me down the path of building the octagon table (path of least resistance).

I realized I wanted a raised rail because when playing on my friend's octagon table, the cards would slide off the table and into your lap because of the speed cloth on his table. Knowing that I would probably want speed cloth because of its durability and spill resistance, I opted for a raised rail. I used some extra painted 1x2 furring strip from a previous project to make a raised rail. I did it this way to cut down on weight. One of my requirements was that I would have to be able to break this table down and store it away when it wasn't in use. This is the dry layout of these pieces and they are cut to just under 4.5" I just used wood glue to attach the "risers" to the sub-table.

Later on, when I tried to add the race track, i discovered here were a couple of these pieces that were 1/16th of an inch too long so just having to contend with wood glue made it easier to detach (with a prybar), trim these pieces up, and reattach them to the sub-table using wood glue. After the first layer was attached, the idea of LEDs was born.

Had to make a trip to Lowe's to get more furring strips and I cut them to 4" and attache them to the top of the first layer using just wood glue.

Now its time for the race track and the playing surface insert.

Made a jig for cutting the circle.

Cutting a perfect circle out of plywood is not that easy, I've done it before with a jigsaw, it took forever and I wasn't happy with the results (which is why that project got scrapped). So, I bought a router off of FB Market just for this part (best $40 purchase ever). In this shot, I'm trying to figure out how wide I want my race track at this point as well as where I will need to put the router on the jig.

With the proper holes drilled in the jig, I decided to draw a "lane" to keep my router in between (don't ask, I second guess myself a lot). In the background, you can see the remnants of the table from which the base of this table came.

With the racetrack and insert fitting nicely, time to start on the top rail. Ill be honest, I had no idea at this point what I was going to do about the exposed risers that are underneath this railing. When I did figure it out, it created several possibilities. I used the kreg pocket hole jig to join each piece of red oak together underneath the joint of each rail piece. the sides were glued and finish-nailed on to the top piece of the rail. Notice my crappy miter cut and the resulting gap? Usually, this would call for another trip to Lowes, but red oak is expensive! So I used the sawdust + wood glue method to fill this gap, it worked like a charm and you cant even notice. If you do notice, then you're an asshole! :P You may notice the presence of the LEDs here. I think I started putting them on before the UPS guy was even back in his truck. He tried to invite himself over for a game. I may take him up on it.

Lets take a sneak peek a those lights

Id like to tell you that I put my fancy new router to work and created this moulding, but I'd be lying. At this point, I had set the date for a poker game on 4/13/18. This picture was taken on 4/8/2018! Staying true to the table, I did buy red oak moulding.

One thing that did plague me on this project though is wood glue seepage. You can sort of see it here and I wish I hadn't been drinking when making this damn thing or I probably would have paid a little more attention and taken care of it. I will come back to haunt me later.

Alright, 1/4 closed cell foam and speed cloth came in from casinosupply.com. Used 3M headliner glue (number 77 I think) to attach the table to the foam and used weights to hold this thing down.

I used T-nuts to attach this insert to the sub-table so that it doesn't move during play.

There's a few bubbles that I will end up fixing the night before the poker game. I pulled the thing as tight as I could using pliers.

Nice fit. There is about a 1/8th of an inch gap between the insert and the racetrack. I was initially panicked over this but it turned out to be brilliant because it was a perfect little space to put your thumb and get under your card for a quick peek and those pocket rockets.

Okay, lets see the lights.

While i was in Lowes I figured out what to do about this problem with risers being in view. Nice guy in glass cutting cut some plexiglass 1.5" stips of plexiglass for me. This plexiglass had a clear film on side, and a while film on the other side. I took the clear side off and left the white film on. Made jig (not shown) to etch a straight line/slot the width of the plex into the bottom of the rail. Add a little gorilla glue and viola, you have yourself a $13 diffuser that looks pretty damn good.

perfect fit, they all sit flush on the table.

I had no idea how perfect this would disperse the light. BTW, I guess its worth mentioning that these lights will keep the beat with music.

Went with Red mahogany on the stain for the top rail and the base of the table

Golden oak for the racetrack

Remember what I said about the wood glue haunting me?? I didnt decide to fix this until after the first coat of polyurethane.

This is after 1 coat of finish

I couldnt stand the glue spots any longer. I started to just paint it, then I thought I would try something else.

Okay, remember this guy? Told you it would come back to haunt me. Here's what I did. Got some General Finishes Java Get stain and a foam brush. Blended in the Java gel until the glue spots were sufficiently masked. Then, sprayed a coat of shellac to keep the polyurethane from lifting the Java gel stain.

Like it never happened.

Ready for poker night.

Acquired some 3ft USB charging extension cables and attached them to the bottom of the table. This is temporary. I plan to add another piece of wood to the bottom of the table for pull out drink holders at which time these will appropriately integrated into the railing.

10-port USB charging station.

Blanton's and Jack Daniels Sinatra Select (So damn smooth) shared with friends breaking in the table on poker night.

Finally, poker night. Hope you enjoyed!