Unpopular opinion (1 Viewer)

timinater

Flush
Site Vendor
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
1,764
Reaction score
4,639
Location
SESKATCHWAN
I really don’t care for suited speed cloth. I know many around here do, and to each their own.

For me though, I find it course, not overly appealing visually and I find it gets really dirty and dusty quite easily. I think for your money you’re better off with velveteen. I’ve had the same velveteen surface on my table for 10 years and it still looks good as new. Obviously the best option is custom gaming suede. :)

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
 
Last edited:
Depends on the speed felt. I've found that cheap ones dirty up really quickly but anything I've gotten from Texas gaming supply lasts 3-4 years with weekly play. The cheap stuff, I'm lucky to get a year or two before it fades.

I'd love to get a tchan felt, but it's always been the wrong time for my situation. Someday!
 
Do you know Biasov? They are producer of pro poker tables. You can order table with your custom grafic. Their tables have a great solution for dismantling legs and storage.
 
I agree that SSC gets dusty pretty quick, but WOW, do plastic cards glide across the table on it. Makes anyone look like they can pitch cards at the WSOP.
 
I think most people would agree that the weird roughness of suited speed cloth sucks. But for the price point, it just can’t be beat. And it lets people upgrade far worse fabrics (checkered fleece football pajama pants?) or complete a table build, without breaking the bank.

Upgraded gaming suede, polyester, and nylon gaming surfaces can push $100 with stock designs. And you can approach $200 with a fully custom printed layout.

For less than 50-bucks, SSC satisfies a rather large market segment and keeps wallets happy. It resists most beverage spills, cleans rather easy, and is relatively durable to light abuse. No, it’s not “casino quality felt,” but unless the price of the alternatives comes down, it’s going to be around for a long time to come.
 
Last edited:
I'm kind of in the middle. I have one table with it, and another table with fabric from a local store. I like the look of the SSC. I don't love the scratchyness. On the table I'm building now, I'm going to try another fabric from a local store that feels great. If I don't wind up liking it, I would consider SSC.
 
I think most people would agree that the weird roughness of suited speed cloth sucks. But for the price point, it just can’t be beat. And it lets people upgrade far worse fabrics (checkered fleece football pajama pants?) or complete a table build, without breaking the bank.

Upgraded gaming suede, polyester, and nylon gaming surfaces can push $100 with stock designs. And you can approach $200 with a fully custom printed layout.

For less than 50-bucks, SSC satisfies a rather large market segment and keeps wallets happy. It resists most beverage spills, cleans rather easy, and is relatively durable to light abuse. No, it’s not “casino quality felt,” but unless the price of the alternatives comes down, it’s going to be around for a long time to come.
These are all valid points, except, in my opinion SSC can be beat at the same price point by velveteen available at any local fabric store.
I agree SSC is coarse but I think it actually cleans up really well. Velveteen would absorb dirt/drinks much more?
I dunno. I sprayed mine down with some scotch gard. There have been spills but a microfibre cloth on hand pretty much solves that.
 
For what it's worth, the white SSC that gets dye subbed for custom cloths is much softer than a lot of the "off the shelf" colors. It's obviously more expensive, but makes for a great feeling cloth that holds up very well like regular SSC.
 
I recently replaced the SSC on my table; both were the good stuff from YAT. The cheap stuff is awful.

My table's original cloth was wonderful and very soft, also from YAT. I don't recall the name. It was similar to moleskin. Unfortunately, it had a lengthwise grain that affected card glide. I changed it out for SSC after a few games.
 
I don't prefer SSC, but maybe my experience has only been with the cheap stuff. I did get some samples from TPS and they seemed really rough.

To me, it has the same surface appeal that "official casino weight" chips have. I also find the splash of consistent contrasting colors tries too hard to be an "OFFICIAL POKER DESIGN!"

Gaming Suede or whatever @T_Chan uses has worked out well for me.
 
I have T_Chan cloths on the 3 tables I use regularly, but SSC from YAT on my extra. When the extra gets pulled out I actually like the difference in the texture/feel of it. And the cards fly great.
Aside from Tony's gaming cloths I wouldn't use anything else.
 
Big fan of high-quality SSC -- the cheap stuff truly sucks -- but I definitely prefer tchan's gaming cloth, replacing my 10-year old SSC surface with it a couple of years ago. I can deal with the roughness of SSC to get the increased card slide and other benefits, and typically choose lower contrast color blends that are easier on the eyes. And pricing is very reasonable given it's longevity and protection.

I've tried just about everything that Joann Fabrics offers -- even patterns turned upside-down -- looking for a budget-priced low-friction surface that didn't look like my granny's sofa. Can't stand suede, moleskin, velvet, or velvateen, all having feel, wear, and/or play characteristics that are simply undesireable to me as a player and dealer. I found one satin-like silver-ish polyester blend that worked relatively well when reversed (too much reflection/glare when installed normally), but it soon started showing wear and stains from usage.

I had initially promising results with some nylon tenting materials, but it was typically only available in really bright solids and was like greased lightning with plastic cards -- actually *too* slick to be manageable when dealing. Just a soft pitch from one end would turn the card into an accelerating projectile rocketing to the far end of the table, and finger cuts from cards dealt by exuberant dealers to inattentive players were not uncommon on one friend's nylon-covered table. Plus as a University of Tennessee fanzoid, his nylon's bright neon orange color would literally burn an image into your retinas.

My very first table build with charcoal YAT SSC is now on it's third owner. At 15 years old, the cloth is showing wear in the dealer position area from repeated shuffling and dealing from just a single location, but is still in fine shape elsewhere. He wants to replace it with new black-on-black SSC in a couple of weeks before the new league season starts.
 
I like unsuited speed cloth.
WIN_20180430_23_27_14_Pro.jpg
 
I don’t know what SSC you guys have, but the stuff I have is top notch and lasted for a few years now. It’s very popular with my players. My one bud actually commented recently when we were playing in a casino that he thought my table felt better.

Sounds like there are some cheaper materials floating around?
 
I have suited speed cloth and I get that it does feel a bit rougher to the touch but the cards slide great which was my major concern with my first table (which I'm pretty sure is standard felt and the cards seemed to stick very easily). One day I'll probably replace it with a custom gaming suede but for now it's good enough.
 
I really don’t care for suited speed cloth. I know many around here do, and to each their own.

For me though, I find it course, not overly appealing visually and I find it gets really dirty and dusty quite easily. I think for your money you’re better off with velveteen. I’ve had the same velveteen surface on my table for 10 years and it still looks good as new. Obviously the best option is custom gaming suede. :)

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

I'm not really a fan of SSC either, even though I have it on one of my tables. The reason I don't like it is mostly due to how coarse/stiff it is. I find it stays pretty clean and also has great card glide...but it drives me wild peeking and shuffling on it and it's even worse if there is inadequate padding underneath. I have YAT SSC FWIW.

My Chanman has gaming seude which is far superior to SSC IMO.
 
Upgraded gaming suede, polyester, and nylon gaming surfaces can push $100 with stock designs. And you can approach $200 with a fully custom printed layout.

Where are good places to purchase gaming suede for the $100 stock price point?

Also, my table would get used 10-15 times per year at most, so wear isn’t a major concern. Does that open up any other high performance, but not as great wear long term options?
 
Where are good places to purchase gaming suede for the $100 stock price point?

Check out TheLayoutCompany on eBay. They sell overstock and misprint casino layouts, and have a few offerings in the $65-$125 range. They don't keep any regular stock, so it's best to check their listings regularly to catch newly added felts. I can't take credit for this find, @ruskba pointed me in their direction when I was doing my recent table build.

A few notes to keep in mind when dealing with TheLayoutCompany:

1) ALWAYS read the FULL description.
Notes about any damage/misprint can be missed if you don't read all of the specifics. They also offer brand new overstock layouts, with no issues at all.

2) They offer TWO fabric options.
Their fabric types are also buried in the full product description, and they are Ultra-Glide™ polyester and Ultra-Glide™ nylon. The polyester is their lower-cost option, is slightly thicker, and seems like it may pill a bit with time/use. For weekly/monthly games, I don't think pilling is much of a concern. The nylon option is definitely their higher-end fabric, it is more expensive, is thinner and "stretchier," and has more of that "casino-like" feel. Which is a bit of a silly way for me to describe it, since both their polyester and nylon options are used in casinos.

The TI felt I got from them is polyester and you can kind of see what I mean about the fabric thickness in this low-angle photo...
1579965821294.png

1579965895549.png


The WSOP layout I just got from them is nylon. It is harder to tell from this photo, but it is definitely a thinner/"silkier" fabric than the polyester...
1579965871551.png


3) Many of their layouts have a bet line.
Their bet lines are typically sized for 8' tables, although you can get lucky and find some smaller. What this means is, if you put the layout on a smaller table, the bet line may land close to the rail at the ends of the table. I don't use a bet line in my games, so for me the line graphic closer to the rail is not an issue. But if this is something that might tilt you, it's definitely something to consider when buying from them.

I hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Check out TheLayoutCompany on eBay. They sell overstock and misprint casino layouts, and have a few offerings in the $65-$125 range. They don't keep any regular stock, so it's best to check their listings regularly to catch newly added felts. I can't take credit for this find, @ruskba pointed me in their direction when I was doing my recent table build.

A few notes to keep in mind when dealing with TheLayoutCompany:

1) ALWAYS read the FULL description.
Notes about any damage/misprint can be missed if you don't read all of the specifics. They also offer brand new overstock layouts, with no issues at all.

2) They offer TWO fabric options.
Their fabric types are also buried in the full product description, and they are Ultra-Glide™ polyester and Ultra-Glide™ nylon. The polyester is their lower-cost option, is slightly thicker, and seems like it may pill a bit with time/use. For weekly/monthly games, I don't think pilling is much of a concern. The nylon option is definitely their higher-end fabric, it is more expensive, is thinner and "stretchier," and has more of that "casino-like" feel. Which is a bit of a silly way for me to describe it, since both their polyester and nylon options are used in casinos.

The TI felt I got from them is polyester and you can kind of see what I mean about the fabric thickness in this low-angle photo...
View attachment 397709
View attachment 397712

The WSOP layout I just got from them is nylon. It is harder to tell from this photo, but it is definitely a thinner/"silkier" fabric than the polyester...
View attachment 397711

3) Many of their layouts have a bet line.
Their bet lines are typically sized for 8' tables, although you can get lucky and find some smaller. What this means is, if you put the layout on a smaller table, the bet line may land close to the rail at the ends of the table. I don't use a bet line in my games, so for me the line graphic closer to the rail is not an issue. But if this is something that might tilt you, it's definitely something to consider when buying from them.

I hope this helps.

Super helpful! How would the Reno suede or nylon velveteen from YAT compare?

Also, do you just iron out the wrinkles, or do they go away when you stretch it on the table?
 
Super helpful! How would the Reno suede or nylon velveteen from YAT compare?

Also, do you just iron out the wrinkles, or do they go away when you stretch it on the table?

I've never used either of those so I don't know. It sounds like the Reno suede is not very good as as surface. The velveteen might do a little better, but I don't think either of them match up to legitimate gaming/casino "suede" layout products. If you're on a budget, there's absolutely nothing wrong with SSC.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom