Workshop / Projects / Poker Table

Free video, pictures, plans and instructions to build your very own poker table. This is an octagonal table that also works well for other card games and board games.

To work out the dimensions of an octagonal poker table you can use our online Octagon Calculator or download our handy Octagon Calculator spreadsheet (requires Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher).

  • This poker table is built with sheets of Baltic Birch plywood as a base. This plywood is shipped in 5 ft x 5 ft sheets instead of the more common 4 ft x 8 ft sheets. This is good for us because it means the base is one solid sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. It makes a nice large table with plenty of elbow room.
  • Padded rail or no rail? Rails can be difficult to cover smoothly, especially for beginners. For this table we chose to skip the padded rail.

Video Tutorial

Material List
Material Size and Quantity
Baltic Birch Plywood 5' x 5' x 3/4", 2 sheets
Medium Density Fiberboard(MDF) 4' x 4' x 1/2", 1 sheet
Table Legs 4
Brackets 4
Speed Cloth 2 yards
Foam Padding 1/4" closed cell, 2 yards
Cup Holders 8
Pine trim 5/16" x 3/4" x 8', 2 strips
Wood Stain 1 litre
Polyurethane 1 litre
Spray Adhesive 3M 77
Paint brushes 2" wide, 6 brushes
Wood Glue
Brad Nails
Staples
Wood Screws and Washers #10, 1 1/2 inches

Equipment List
  • Brad Nailer
  • Circular Saw
  • Electric Drill
  • Jigsaw

Instructions

NOTE: the video changes the order of some of these steps - the reasons for this are explained in the video.

  1. Playing Surface
    1. Trim the MDF sheet into a square 46 inches by 46 inches.
    2. Mark the centre of each side of the MDF.
    3. Measure a 19 inch line centered on each side of the MDF and cut the corners to produce an octagon.
    4. Spray one surface of the MDF with adhesive.
    5. Apply the 1/4 inch foam to the adhesive. Allow the adhesive time to dry.
    6. Trim the foam flush with the edge of the MDF.
    7. Apply pine trim to all edges of the MDF.
    8. Place the MDF (foam side down) on the speedcloth.
    9. Pull the speedcloth tight across the back of the MDF and staple starting from the centre out to the sides. Trim the speedcloth as needed.
  2. Table Top
    1. Centre the Playing Surface (speedcloth side up) on a sheet of Birch plywood. Trace the outline with a pencil.
    2. Cut out the centre from the Birch plywood following the pencil line. Set this aside for the Table Base.
    3. Glue the "rail" plywood to the remaining solid sheet of plywood. Allow the glue time to dry.
    4. Mark the centre of each side of the plywood.
    5. Measure a 24 7/8 inch line centered on each side of the plywood and cut the corners to produce an octagon.
    6. Optional: cut holes for cupholders using a hole saw.
  3. Table Base
    1. Drill pilot holes for the table legs into the Table Base (plywood cut in an earlier step).
    2. Glue the table legs into the base.
    3. Reinforce table legs with brackets.
  4. Finishing Steps
    1. Sand all surfaces. Remove all dust with a damp cloth.
    2. Stain all surfaces. Allow the stain time to dry.
    3. Clearcoat all surfaces. Allow the clearcoat time to dry.
    4. Attach Table Base to Table Top with #10 wood screws and washers.
    5. Drill 1/2 inch hole through Table Base and Table Top to allow removal of Playing Surface as needed.
    6. Insert Playing Surface into Table Top.