Just another idiot needs help with his Tchan build. *Updated* (3 Viewers)

JScott

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So, Tony came through on this thread, and I'm sorted for the winter.

Now, I'm doing my custom Chanman build with him. Here are the details:

The Game:
Mostly 6 handed self dealt cash games among friends, I want my table to handle 8 and I will have the space, but that's for rare times. It's a casual and fun weekly game, but I'm the only real serious one amongst the group, the rest would be happy playing with dice chips on dining tables and using paper cards. I've got some things nailed down, others I may need help with:

(workhorse chips)
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The Crew:
We're a bunch of prairie boys living in the mountains, so was thinking of a western theme. I mean, my go to chips are Dias de los Muertos, so I'd love to incorporate a Mexican/western theme. I'm trying to think up some good names for our poker group, usually I'm good at that thing, but "the hitching post" was already taken ;)

(typical idiots that show up ;) )
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The Space:

I'm doing an addition to our house, and that includes a 750 sqft garage, we'll only park one car in it, so the rest is for toy storage (ski's/bikes) and workshop (3D printing but no serious woodwork). So my plan as you can see here is to turn it into an amazing den/media/whisky tasting/poker room with vinyl woodlike flooring, not unlike a pub. I've got two areas, one 12.5' x 13' and one 14' x 15.5', or I could combine them, but I want to put some nice furniture there to sit and watch games and hang out.

garage measure.JPG


The Inspiration

inspiration.JPG


The Good:

3/4" Raised Rail, likely a wood raise.
Custom Felt with betting line (need to get size confirmed before I can start design)

The Bad:
USB chargers, last thing I want to do is encourage phone use at the table
Racetrack, *shudder*
LED lighting, doesn't fit theme, and would rather budget go elsewhere
Dealer cutout, I like the look, but we've never had a dealt game, although we are thinking of doing it once a month

The Unsure:
Cupholders, I like the look of them in rail, but then sometimes I don't. Not sure if drink carts are the way to go as I'm going from having no space, to lots of space. (I won't do slide in)
Felt themes, I like the green, but also lean towards poppy colours like purple (now I'm basically copying @TheWhat 's thread!)
Rail material, leather or tuxuede? $1000 difference, but damn that leather looks good.
Dimensions, while we don't need a huge one, I love the look of oval tables, but want to keep it manageable. Tony suggested 48'x68". does anyone have pics of that? I want it to be a presence if it can.


Tables I love:

This one with a raised rail and my own take on the felt would be my dream table.
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This basement is what convinced my wife to support the garage makeover/build
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I Just realized they're all leather.... Wallet crying
 
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Definitely go for the leather if you want it to be a centerpiece.

Ever consider going with a round table? Much better for self dealt games. If you went with 60 inch you could fit 8 easily on those rarer occasions and loads of space for your regular 6 handed games.
 
Yeah, a 48" diameter should be plenty of space for 6. Even 42-44" is doable.

yeah I’m not too worried about the size for six, I’m just wondering how it’s gonna look and I want to be really comfortable for six or eight.

Definitely go for the leather if you want it to be a centerpiece.

Ever consider going with a round table? Much better for self dealt games. If you went with 60 inch you could fit 8 easily on those rarer occasions and loads of space for your regular 6 handed games.

you know what, I thought about round but to be honest I just don’t like the looks of them. Even my favorite round tables like Bruce Wayne’s here on the forum is one of the nicest looking tables but I’d prefer oval
 
It's a luxury thing to own anyway, so spend the extra money for real leather, since it seems to have fascinated you (remember YOU are the one to be fascinated, to the degree you purse can endure).

Definitely cup holders in the rail. Most practical solution; nice-looking too.

Raised rail: I could live without one, but it's your table.

Size: IMHO, most "reasonable" size for 8 players is 46x70in (a 46in round is perfect for 6, providing the ideal 24in perimeter per player; add another 24in straight part for two more players).

Felt colors: Deifinitely dark, to NOT reflect the imperatively very strong lighting from above.
Existing expensive chips shall dictate which felt color, while a given felt color (always dark) will dictate which chips to get.
Betting line is imperative, IMHO.
Just avoid busy themes on the felt; too much eye and brain fatigue.
 
Have you considered a circle? I know you said you like ovals (you’re wrong; they suck) but a circle makes so much more sense for a self-dealt home game with 6 or occasionally 8.
There is no good way to do cup holders. It’s like playing jacks in Hold’em - there’s a few different ways to do it and they’re all wrong.
 
Have you considered a circle? I know you said you like ovals (you’re wrong; they suck) but a circle makes so much more sense for a self-dealt home game with 6 or occasionally 8.
There is no good way to do cup holders. It’s like playing jacks in Hold’em - there’s a few different ways to do it and they’re all wrong.
Yeah, if his room allows for a 59in (150cm) :D round table, it's the way to go.

Cupholders in self-dealt games can only belong right under the player's (and eventual dealer's) chest, IMHO.
 
Great advice, I understand the benefits to round, but it's just not what I want for now. So maybe it does seem like the 48X68 is the best for me in that case as it's a compromise between round and oval.

I agree on the cupholder placement under your chest, is the hate for in-rail cupholders just placement? I know some of you (cough BG) hate them under your chest, but for me that's the place to be.

Interesting comments on dark felt, I'd never do one without a betting line, but never thought about the shades, I do hate busy felts as well though.
 
At 48"x68" you're getting 31.8" of rail space per player for 6 handed which is lots, that's super comfortable. Even if we go down to 44"x68" you still get 31".

Going 48"x68" is a bit of a compromise, you get similar benefits of a round table, which is wider but shorter to get better sightlines. It's almost like a hybrid oval/round.

Even with 8 players, at 48"x68" you get just under 24" of rail space per player, and I usually recommend at least 22" to be comfortable.

Side carts are best if you have the space for them. Especially if you're getting a leather rail. I cry a little bit every time I do a leather rail and cut holes in it for cup holders. :nailbite:
 
Side carts are best if you have the space for them.
I'll agree with that as long as you're getting good sidecarts with built-in cupholders. Because when people just use little tables as side carts, I feel like that's when the most spilling happens (though blessedly not on the table.)
 
At 48"x68" you're getting 31.8" of rail space per player for 6 handed which is lots, that's super comfortable. Even if we go down to 44"x68" you still get 31".

Going 48"x68" is a bit of a compromise, you get similar benefits of a round table, which is wider but shorter to get better sightlines. It's almost like a hybrid oval/round.

Even with 8 players, at 48"x68" you get just under 24" of rail space per player, and I usually recommend at least 22" to be comfortable.

Side carts are best if you have the space for them. Especially if you're getting a leather rail. I cry a little bit every time I do a leather rail and cut holes in it for cup holders. :nailbite:

Do you have any pics of 48x68 or 46x70 tables? And with all that advice, I'm probably better off saving money on the in-rail cupholders and putting that towards a couple drink carts.

In Vegas obviously they just have drinks on the felt, just how resistant are your felts to spills? Say beer/Spirits but no wine. I shudder to think about that even now. ;)
 
If you used to go by Rookie @JScott and were a Bobcat, we should get in touch haha.

Anyhow, as going through this recently here's what I'd offer up. Get Tony that deposit right away, to lock in your place in the queue. You'll still have lots of time (Months) to think about / come up with a design. For us it was hard as our game didn't already have a theme, or a name, but we pulled it together with our Koi pond. I am actually hoping to tie our chips into the Prairies, being from Manitoba. Tony has an awesome design guy in @timinater who has been great to work with, and they have both offered great advice.

We ended up with cupholders in rail, as:
1. Don't have the dedicated poker room, so much as an area, so we aren't dragging side tables around.
2. Didn't want to be storing and pulling out the slide in cup holders.
3. There is no real other option since 100% of games will involve a beverage.

For the felt design, lots of great threads here, after we settled on Koi, I ended up spending way too many hours scouring Vector images. But ultimately that exposed us to lots of patterns, and found what we liked. The felt is amazing, and we just couldn't end up on speed cloth when commiting to the table build. Even though speed cloth would be a massive upgrade over our table topper we currently use. So we used some color, just a couple with shades, to hopefully keep it not busy, but also to distinguish it as clearly next level!

Best wishes, its fun, down to the waiting stage for us.
 
Never went by the name rookie, but I am originally from Manitoba. Carman area, so was a Cougar, not bobcat. ;)

I’ve already sent the deposit so we’re good there. But man this is overwhelming, I’ve already realized this will be way more than originally thought. But I’m spending a fortune just on this addition so what’s a couple more grand?
 
For reference purposes, my build was 48" x 84" so you're looking at this width but about a foot and a half shorter... practically a circle at that point... you might just want to go a little longer and more narrow if you're shortening the dimensions that much to make the middle of the pot easier to reach...

4d77467d3819f557bc46db1a1e95e479.jpg
 
For reference purposes, my build was 48" x 84" so you're looking at this width but about a foot and a half shorter... practically a circle at that point... you might just want to go a little longer and more narrow if you're shortening the dimensions that much to make the middle of the pot easier to reach...

4d77467d3819f557bc46db1a1e95e479.jpg
The site lines there look great, compared to your typical casino oval.
Still, pitching from those 4 corners would be a big challenge for a lot of people.
 
In a perfect world I would go with a table with no cup holders but you gotta judge your group. It’s really not even an option to go without them for me, all my friends are mutants.
 
The site lines there look great, compared to your typical casino oval.
Still, pitching from those 4 corners would be a big challenge for a lot of people.
not on ChanMan felt... the cards slide from end to end with almost no effort at all, and with the wide table you can get it to everyone from everywhere...
 
not on ChanMan felt... the cards slide from end to end with almost no effort at all, and with the wide table you can get it to everyone from everywhere...
You know I'm really starting to like the sound of it. Personally, I love octagons or circles. But if you have an oval that functions like a circle, you can have the cool factor of an oval, without the disadvantages of an oval. AND build it out of a single piece of ply.
 
I'm glad on my no cupholders decision. Did side tables instead.

I'm one of the example tables you pulled so happy to answer any questions you might have. Its a big jump but worth it!

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/minimum-room-size-for-full-size-table.29044/page-3

yours is a beauty, I guess the big things, like are your regs drinkers? All my guys drink, so what do you use in lieu of cup holders?

For reference purposes, my build was 48" x 84" so you're looking at this width but about a foot and a half shorter... practically a circle at that point... you might just want to go a little longer and more narrow if you're shortening the dimensions that much to make the middle of the pot easier to reach...

4d77467d3819f557bc46db1a1e95e479.jpg

that looks fantastic. I may end up going that size actually as it looks great for 6 and isn’t huge for 8.
 
For a theme, pick something that means something to you, and that will stand the test of time. Whether it's skiing or mountain biking (Whistler theme), fave sports team, your child or significant other ( ie. _____'s Room), TV show or cartoon that you love, or whatever. Make it something unique to you.

Give some thought to the base. Presumably it will be stationary (not folding legs), so think about how the legs will affect the seating position (claw foot legs may interfere with placement of chairs, while the Boomerang base allows for easier chair placement but may be more difficult to move around).

And seeing it was me that suggested using one of Tony's used rentals as a temporary table, please consider selling the used rental table to me when you are finished with it once your new table is built. Apparently I started a stampede of people buying up all of his used rentals, and was too late getting my name in on the list for one of my own. :banghead:
 
yours is a beauty, I guess the big things, like are your regs drinkers? All my guys drink, so what do you use in lieu of cup holders?

Yes. And I use movable/foldable wood side tables with trays (because guys with coasters - lol, not gonna happen) so I can keep the room a little more open/clean looking when it's not actively being used. And can position tables where they need to be.
 
The rental tables you have now are 84" long. So if you want to reduce the number of players directly beside each other with bad sightlines (the biggest drawback of an oval table) then you might want to keep the length shorter.

A short fat oval is like a hybrid round, but if you get too long, then it's just a regular oval that's hard to reach across.

Also, if you're curious about the amount of space per player you'd get, here's a basic space per player calculator.
 
Well you know what we’re doing our first game on the table tonight so I’ll have an idea as there are 8 people going.

I guess I have to realize that the old dimensions that I had in mind were for a much smaller space, now with the addition I’ve got enough space to put pretty much as big of a table as I need.

Leaning 46 x 80 or something. Maybe bigger as most of us are 6’ or taller.
 
For a theme, pick something that means something to you, and that will stand the test of time. Whether it's skiing or mountain biking (Whistler theme), fave sports team, your child or significant other ( ie. _____'s Room), TV show or cartoon that you love, or whatever. Make it something unique to you.

Give some thought to the base. Presumably it will be stationary (not folding legs), so think about how the legs will affect the seating position (claw foot legs may interfere with placement of chairs, while the Boomerang base allows for easier chair placement but may be more difficult to move around).

And seeing it was me that suggested using one of Tony's used rentals as a temporary table, please consider selling the used rental table to me when you are finished with it once your new table is built. Apparently I started a stampede of people buying up all of his used rentals, and was too late getting my name in on the list for one of my own. :banghead:

Funny enough, I think we found our theme. We have a regular crew we drink with, play poker with and just generally are good friends, we always joke about it being the handsome man's club. So, I may even steal the logo and colours from THIS skit of Kimmel's. haha
 
For reference purposes, my build was 48" x 84" so you're looking at this width but about a foot and a half shorter... practically a circle at that point... you might just want to go a little longer and more narrow if you're shortening the dimensions that much to make the middle of the pot easier to reach...

4d77467d3819f557bc46db1a1e95e479.jpg


Last thing, do you find this table hard to reach across? it doesn't seem big at all in the middle, looks like good sightlines to me.
 
Why don’t you mock up the table to determine if you like the size? Cut and tape some cardboard together at the sizes you’re thinking so you can get a feel for reach, seating, etc.
 

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