Dealer trays that aren't built in? (1 Viewer)

GoStumpy

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Game last night had a cute little tiny dealer tray, and it made me think, is there such device on the market that acts like a slide-under drink holder, but for a dealer tray?

So the table could be tray-less for self-dealt games and tournaments, but when a cash game with a dedicated dealer happens we just put the tray on there...

Anything like this available?
 
Not that I've ever seen. The problem is dealer trays are self supporting from the top. You could make something to plug it flush but you'd still have a rectangular seam for cards and chips to get hung up on as they slide and you'd need a way to support it from the bottom. Even with a small tray that's still a pretty big drink holder sitting right in front of the player seated in the dealer position.

Another option would be to build an overlay for the entire table. Depending on how your rail fits you could possibly slip it under that. You'd only need a thin plywood base.
 
Alternative solution.

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Or you can make an "insert" that is the same size as the dealer tray, so the tray can be removed and you put the insert in it's place which is padded and felted.
 

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Or you can make an "insert" that is the same size as the dealer tray, so the tray can be removed and you put the insert in it's place which is padded and felted.

Have you ever done this, Tony? I thought I saw a table like this, but can't recall where or if I'm just imagining it...
 
Why not just get one of these from amazon and place and remove it on the table as needed.

Less than $10 on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00161V1V4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

View attachment 73827

Ideally if you went this route, you'd want to fabricate a small frame to go around the plastic so it sits flat. Most of these (especially the cheap plastic ones) are designed to sit in a cutout in the table and rest on the plastic lip, this way the tray is level with the playing surface so it's out of the dealer's way. Depending on the tray, they don't always sit flat when not installed as intended and may rock around a bit (especially the ones with the spots for playing cards). The drawback to putting one of these on the table is that it'll sit pretty high out in front of the dealer and get in the way. I small chip rack you can tuck against the rail and it'll be mostly out of the way.
 
Not a bad idea at all with 1 chip rack on the table for the dealer, and then a table behind the dealer with the bank... I suppose any dealer-tray sized tray would very much encroach on the playable portion of the table especially sitting over an inch high.

I'll just use a tray for now unless I can custom make something
 
Not a bad idea at all with 1 chip rack on the table for the dealer, and then a table behind the dealer with the bank... I suppose any dealer-tray sized tray would very much encroach on the playable portion of the table especially sitting over an inch high.
In all seriousness my current poker setup does not have a dealer tray and I don't see myself ever adding one. In the few times where someone has been a dedicated dealer we just position them wall side with a folding table and a couple racks behind them. This isn't a casino so people tend to buy in once as they arrive, with 90% arriving before the cards start to fly. That occurs away from the table. Then there's a couple rebuys over the course of a four hour session but so what? If there's a 45 second break in the action between hands for the dealer to turn around and get what he needs, who cares? It's not like I'm raking the table where dealing one or two less hands an hour would cut the house profit.

When it comes to tournaments all rebuys/addons are pre-counted and held in my plastic tubes so the transaction takes literally 10 seconds.
 
I used to play a pretty crazy 1/2 game at a local bar (with a dealer). It played more like a 2/5 game. Opens for $20-40+

The dealer simply used a chip tray in front of him. I think they were more than capable of running the game out of this single tray (with a birdcage under the dealer's chair to restock from time to time).

The tray accommodated rake, tips, etc... If I recall, rake would be on the left most barrel, tips on the right, and the middle three barrels were bank. The dealer would simply color up the rake and tip barrels as needed.
 
Why not just get one of these from amazon and place and remove it on the table as needed.

Less than $10 on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00161V1V4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

View attachment 73827

Like Irish said, the problem with this is that it sits on the table with the bottom of the rows on the felt, rather than the lip of the tray. Chips and cards can slide under the tray lip, plus it's big and I think the OP wanted something smaller.

The regular 100 chip rack works really well as long as you don't need it to hold a lot of chips. Just enough to make some change and put any tips/rake in a dedicated row. If it fills up, just move them off the table somewhere. A rack is nice and small and can be butted up right against the rail taking up little table real estate.

Have you ever done this, Tony? I thought I saw a table like this, but can't recall where or if I'm just imagining it...

I haven't done it myself, but I've seen it on other tables.
 
Wouldn't it be easier to repurpose a drink cart instead? Chip rack on top, storage for a birdcage underneath, and mobile enough to move around to ensure it's never in the way...
 
I forgot I actually had a spare dealer tray laying around, this is what the front/bottom sides look like. It was actually even worse than I remember, you can see it wouldn't come anywhere near laying flat without some kind of frame to sit in. The kind without the card holders would lay a little better, but as Tony mentioned you still have the ridges. +1 for the cheap clear chip tray :)



 
Does anyone know if it’s possible to install a dealer tray in a table without having to re-felt it?
 
Does anyone know if it’s possible to install a dealer tray in a table without having to re-felt it?

I think this can be done. Dealer trays and built-in shufflers are added on to existing tables. How good it looks probably depends on the quality of the felt and how much care was taken to adhere the felt/foam to the base in the first place.
 

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