Where to position the betting line (1 Viewer)

PokerShark

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My oval poker table has a plain soft red felt and I have ordered an ebbing 750 pen to ‘paint’ on a betting line. I only really have one shot at getting this line correct so I wondered what the conventions were for how far away from the rail you should place this bet line.

My table is 23 inches wide. I read somewhere that some cardrooms like to divide the space in thirds, which would leave me 7.666 inches space between the rails and lines.

How much space do you like to have between the rail and bet line?
How much space is adequate for the middle of the table for the pot, community cards and muck?

Also any tips on how to draw the curved ends of my betting line without screwing it up would be helpful too!
 
Your felt is not really that wide, so I would put the line about 4.5" to 5" from the edge. This will allow stacks of chips about 3 widths deep if done in a honeycomb pattern. That would leave about 15-16" for the board, the pot, the muck, etc. which I think is a reasonable compromise.

I have zero tips on how to apply it well except to recommend some sort of stencil.
 
I went with 7.5” from rail to center of betting line which left me with about 19”-20” of middle area. I wanted enough room for 3-4 stacks wide comfortably without the chips being right up against the rail.

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Do you mean 23 inches of surface left after subtracting the rail? That would still be narrow. Are you sure?
The narrowest ovals I have heard of are 42in, which leaves 32in of surface, after subtracting 5+5in of rail.
That said, the betting area (centre) should be at the very least 12in wide (the absolute minimum).
If there is much width available, I 'm a huge fan of a large "racetrack" area, at the expense of the central betting area. My minimum would be two cards on the oblong side, so 7in at least for the "racetrack" area. Unless there is no space.
About the curved corners: Destroy permanently (the paint will never be washed away) a really wide glass or bottle, to use it as the guide for the marker. That's what I did.
Good luck and keep calm!:)

Edit: Btw, my narrow topper, dictated by my narrow dining table, is 36in wide. It's roughly 5in rail + 7in "racetrack" + 12in central area.
 
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8” for our new table. Enough room for 4 barrels of chips plus cards in front of chips without passing the betting line. Plenty of room left for artwork.
 
Do you mean 23 inches of surface left after subtracting the rail? That would still be narrow. Are you sure?
The narrowest ovals I have heard of are 42in, which leaves 32in of surface, after subtracting 5+5in of rail.
That said, the betting area (centre) should be at the very least 12in wide (the absolute minimum).
If there is much width available, I 'm a huge fan of a large "racetrack" area, at the expense of the central betting area. My minimum would be two cards on the oblong side, so 7in at least for the "racetrack" area. Unless there is no space.
About the curved corners: Destroy permanently (the paint will never be washed away) a really wide glass or bottle, to use it as the guide for the marker. That's what I did.
Good luck and keep calm!:)

Edit: Btw, my narrow topper, dictated by my narrow dining table, is 36in wide. It's roughly 5in rail + 7in "racetrack" + 12in central area.

My table is quite narrow as it is indeed 23 inches minus the rail.

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If I take your advice on giving the centre area 12 inches of space minimum then that would leave 5.5 inches on either side past the betting line. That matches what @allforcharity suggested earlier, although you said 7 inches would be better. Playing around with a ruler on my table I like how 7 inches feels but this would only leave 9 inches in the middle.

The largest table I’ve played on was at a casino and they had a huge ‘racetrack’. I felt like I had to stretch and lean in every time to make a bet! Too big for me.
 
@PokerShark
I see. You don't have much room for manoeuvre. Definitely 12in centre and 5.5in "racetrack".
This is an oval, so the glass/bottle won't work. You don't just need curved corners, but whole curved sides on the two ends.
Get creative and find something expendable and curved, of the size your table dictates (tray? pan?)
 
I did 7” seems to be working out good. A great way to get a perfect betting line is get some cardboard or foam board. Draw out your oval, then center it on table and draw away!

Good luck!
 
I prefer at least 7+" of space between the rail and the betting line. Maybe even more. I don't mind having to "reach" a bit to get the chips over the line. I'd much rather have a clear delineation between a player's stack and what's out in the middle. Your table is a bit of a challenge, given how narrow it is. Nine inches in the middle is not a lot, but it's enough space to hold a pot and the community cards (close enough, anyway).

Don't want to threadjack, but this seems related. I created a makeshift table topper this past weekend (https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/table-top-material-in-a-pinch.39500/post-733283), and I'm wondering if I should put a homemade betting line on it. I definitely prefer the look and the function of a betting line. But since I'll basically have to free-hand it, I'm wondering if doing straight lines is an option, since I could do that relatively easily once I had my center points marked. Did this just for kicks, and I honestly don't hate the look of it. Obviously, it's not exact, but you get the point.

I know a hexagon means that different points on the ends are not all the same distance from the end of the table, but I think I'd rather have that than no line at all.

Anyone ever seen or done a straight betting line on a round/oval table? Maybe the OP could somehow use a rectangle if he can figure out workable dimensions.

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I would get a piece of poster board to cut a template. Draw an arc with a 6" radius, place it on your playing surface, and draw the line around the outside edge. Or maybe you'll get lucky enough to find a 12" plate, platter, or bowl in your kitchen.

I suggest marking the line with chalk -- Taylor's chalk would be good -- to check your measurements and to make sure that you like the way it looks before committing to something permanent.

Good luck!
 
I said 12in minimum for the central area, if the game is self-dealt and people on the ends of the table are dealing too, apparently facing the board.
A 5-card board is at least 12in wide.
If only the players in the middle are dealing, then the central area could become a little narrower.
 
Enough to have a 10 barrel pyramid (4/3/2/1).
Exactly ^this^ -- provided the inner play surface is still large enough for bets to be placed, with ample room for large pots, the community board cards, and the muck. If not, you need to scale it back to a 3/2/1 pyramid or get a bigger table.

I usually go by a combination of looks and function -- generally the no-bet area is as wide as the rail width (at a minimum), and overall designed so that the dealer can reach all bets placed within the betting line. If the dealer can't reach it, what's the point?
 
I would get a piece of poster board to cut a template. Draw an arc with a 6" radius, place it on your playing surface, and draw the line around the outside edge. Or maybe you'll get lucky enough to find a 12" plate, platter, or bowl in your kitchen.

I suggest marking the line with chalk -- Taylor's chalk would be good -- to check your measurements and to make sure that you like the way it looks before committing to something permanent.

Good luck!

Tailor’s chalk has just been purchased from eBay!
 
It is far better to have too much room for chips than not enough. I would make the betting line a mere 8 inches wide .
 
Any thoughts on betting lines for a round poker table? I'm looking at ordering a custom mat and can't decide on the "inner and outer circle" size, i.e. the betting line. It's 51" wide (130 cm) in total so if 8" (20 cm) is a recommendation that would leave me with a center area of 35" (89 cm) which is plenty of space.

Searching for options online shows both a very large center area and a very small dito.
 

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