Why is Suede better than Suited Speed Cloth (3 Viewers)

Wally3433

New Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Chicago
I see that most if not all people prefer Suede of Speed, but nobody really discusses why? Suede can be dyed any color or with any graphics - that I understand. What about the playing abilities of each option? Will cards slide on Suede just as fast as speed cloth? And how does each surface hold up over time? If the suede gets a drink spill, how does it hold up? Thanks for the help.
 
I have gaming suede and here is my experience from playing on both. SSC is a bit faster than suede in terms of card slide but gaming suede is perfectly fine. Gaming suede attracts lint/dirt a little more so it requires more maintenance IMO. I have black suede with images and from the little drinks I've had spilled you can't even tell once cleaned up. I've had my felt used 1-2 times a weeks for a year and its still in tip top shape. It could use a thorough cleaning to look "new" again, but there is no physical wear. I believe you pick a suede base color, and then dye sublimation is used used for the graphics/design portion. Hope this helps a little, just my two cents. Can't really say which is better but SSC definitely glides better than gaming suede. I like the feel of gaming suede more though.
 
ssc is not a choice for professionals because it has zero grip, making it hard to use. it is mostly used for rotating dealer home games where cards need to be pitched from one end of the table to the other with relative ease

while ssc is faster, i find suede to be more than adequate

suede holds up better over time and can be spill proof depending on where u get it


my most recent build used suede over ssc because i have a dedicated dealer and ssc was too slippery and was already starting to degrade in frequent dealer areas
 
Thanks for the feedback so far. Very helpful. My new table is for home games, and I am leaning towards suede.
 
Ill give my .2c worth. Gaming suede is in my opinion much more 'casino' like and more professional, can be customised with graphics too. SSC i by far way 'faster' but as mentioned has a rough feel to it. Im not to sure about yous guys in the States but over here SSC is a fraction of the cost of gaming suede. If you can afford it id go with a custom gaming suede cloth.
 
I wouldn't say that suede is better, just different. It's a matter of what's important to each person.

Suited speed cloth is a very fast felt. If you want to be able to pitch cards from end to end on an 8' long table, SSC's for you. The pattern is nice, and it's waterproof. As mentioned already, there are 2 major downsides of SSC in my opinion.

1. It's too slick. If you deal a "proper" flop, which is deal out 3 cards one at a time on the felt, square them up, flip and fan them out, this is nearly impossible to do on SSC. The cards all slide together in a clump of 3 cards since there's not enough friction to fan out the cards.

2. It's rough to the touch. It's a hard polyester blend material that's got a heavy cross weave, which is also one of the reasons why it's so slick. But it's hard to the touch, making it almost like sandpaper. If you deal a card with your knuckles facing the felt and happen to graze your knuckles along the felt, you'll almost get a carpet burn. Whenever I'm a dedicated dealer for games for hours on end, I have to rest my right hand, which is holding the stub, on top of something like the 2nd deck or a cut card or something, otherwise resting the back of my right hand on the felt all night makes my knuckles raw. This problem isn't applicable to most people though who rotate the deal.

---

Gaming suede is also fast, BUT it depends on which gaming suede. Different suppliers have their own versions. I've handled at least 8 different types of gaming suede which all had different properties.

Gaming suede is typically white, then the graphics are printed on it. So if you get a cloth that's mainly green with some graphics on it, it's not a green gaming suede with printed graphics, everything is printed on it. The downside, is that you cannot get plain solid colors of gaming suede since it's almost always white. You can print a solid color onto it, but then you're paying extra and it costs the same to print a solid color as it does graphics.

The gaming suede that I supply and use is also waterproof and cards also slide very well. Cards do fan out well on the material. It's much softer as well.

---

Your experiences may vary, but if I were to choose, it would be gaming suede every time.


TL;DR: SSC is rough but really fast. Gaming suede is softer, costs more.
 
I'll echo the sentiment of friction of gaming suede. I think it's the perfect balance between letting cards slide as they're pitched and to allow you to spread the flop cards. It also adds a level of authenticity (or realness?) to your home game using material used on casino tables. I don't like the roughness of of SSC and the excessive slide. It's almost playing on an air hockey table.
 
SSC is fine; economical, fast-sliding and mostly bulletproof, BUT:
It won't take a printed betting line (i.e. you can't print on it), which is a deal-breaker for me.
For cheaper solutions, of course, you can just draw a betting line on the SSC with a good paint marker, but this takes craftiness and a good driver for curves.
 
SSC is fine; economical, fast-sliding and mostly bulletproof, BUT:
It won't take a printed betting line (i.e. you can't print on it), which is a deal-breaker for me.
For cheaper solutions, of course, you can just draw a betting line on the SSC with a good paint marker, but this takes craftiness and a good driver for curves.

Actually you can. There's white SSC available that's meant for dye sub. You can print the betting line and the felt color, and graphics if you want.

I've never seen suede on a casino table
....sorry, my vote is speed cloth

I've actually never seen SSC on a casino poker table, anywhere. I know that they exists though, but rare.
 
I've never seen suede on a casino table
For real? As far as im aware there are no casinos in Vegas that use SSC anymore i found one downtown a few years back that did (think it was Fitzgeralds) every casino on the strip uses custom gaming suede tho
 
For real? As far as im aware there are no casinos in Vegas that use SSC anymore i found one downtown a few years back that did (think it was Fitzgeralds) every casino on the strip uses custom gaming suede tho
Perhaps I don't understand the term correctly. Most casinos use a synthetic felt (polyester & nylon). Is that what you're calling suede?
I also have not seen speed cloth in casinos in a long time
 
Yeah casino grade gaming suede is the term i mean. I know suede doesnt sound right but thats generally what its referred to
 
Another downside I have found with SSC is the roughness of the cloth fades the printing on some decks of cards much faster than the gaming suede @T_Chan sells. There is a place for both and I use both. Tony's gaming suede felts are top class, but more expansive that SSC.
 
Last edited:
Very good point which I noticed as well, SSC wears out cards faster.
 
No, it's not the same. I had that on my table at first. It looked great and was nice and soft, but that fabric has a grain. Cards slide great in one direction only. It didn't take long before I replaced it with SSC. The good stuff that I bought from YAT is a lot nicer and noticeably softer than the cheap Chinese stuff. I didn't get gaming suede because of the cost.

I agree that it looks great, nice, and soft. Cards slide with ease for about four feet, but only two or three of my friends can deal from end-to-end with consistency. I prefer this to SSC though because I cannot stand the rough texture or the fact that it doesn't age well since the areas with more friction will fade faster.

Members here seem to love @T_Chan 's gaming suede, but the price is a lot higher than $40ish I paid for the YAT velveteen. Anyone know can I purchase something similar, but where the cards slide a little bit easier?
 
Are the Jack poker felts considered top end gaming suede? I am considering using it for my new table but want to make sure the cards will slide easily.
 
I agree that it looks great, nice, and soft. Cards slide with ease for about four feet, but only two or three of my friends can deal from end-to-end with consistency. I prefer this to SSC though because I cannot stand the rough texture or the fact that it doesn't age well since the areas with more friction will fade faster.

Members here seem to love @T_Chan 's gaming suede, but the price is a lot higher than $40ish I paid for the YAT velveteen. Anyone know can I purchase something similar, but where the cards slide a little bit easier?

Although not as cheap as $40 veleteen, I also sell single color and semi-custom felts for $150 also printed on the gaming suede. Semi-custom is a felt with up to 3 colors, outside the betting line, inside the betting line and the betting line itself. One of those colors can be a SSC pattern.

Green-SSC.gif


2-tone-SSC-example.gif
 
Although not as cheap as $40 veleteen, I also sell single color and semi-custom felts for $150 also printed on the gaming suede. Semi-custom is a felt with up to 3 colors, outside the betting line, inside the betting line and the betting line itself. One of those colors can be a SSC pattern.

View attachment 505958

View attachment 505959
Do you still offer this option @T_Chan? I have a few tables to do...
 
I’ve played in a couple home games which had speedcloth tables. The surface had developed a sort of slick/greasy feel over time.

Possibly this could be remedied by deep-cleaning the speedcloth, but I don’t think that was ever going to happen in those games…
 

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