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" Used to be, if you wanted to find a poker game, you&amp;#039;d have to fly to Vegas or wait for the next steamboat to churn upstream. Today, the game is everywhere, bankrupting online hold &amp;#039;em addicts and keeping eyes glued to the plasma. Still, nothing comes close to the fun and feel of actually flipping cards with buddies. &amp;quot;Playing live gives you a true poker experience and elevates the excitement,&amp;quot; says Mike Sexton, a World Series of Poker winner and a commentator for the World Poker Tour. If you&amp;#039;re going to host a home game, you should do it right, on a table like the one we built. &amp;quot;A kitchen table is hard to shuffle on, deal on, count chips on,&amp;quot; says Gene Trimble, who runs poker events for the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. &amp;quot;When you&amp;#039;re playing on felt, everything runs smoothly.&amp;quot; It feels even better if you&amp;#039;ve built the table yourself. Poker Table Schematic (PDF, 1.3MB, requires Adobe Reader) Step 1: Making the Stand  You have several options for your poker table&amp;#039;s base--including a simple square pedestal design or even metal folding legs that allow for easy storage. Our classier approach is a 12-sided cherry pedestal with three sturdy legs for stability on any floor. The cylinder is easier to build than it looks.  Cut the stock oversize, then set your table saw blade to 15 degrees and rip the edge bevels at finished width. Step 2: Making the Stand  To join the pieces, arrange them edge to edge and add strips of tape across the seams. Step 3: Making the Stand  Then, flip the slats over and spread glue on the edges. Step 4: Making the Stand  Roll the assembly up, stand it on end and apply a few band clamps to pull the joints tight. After about 45 minutes, remove the clamps and peel off excess glue with a chisel. Step 5: Adding the Legs  The pedestal legs come from 2-in. cherry stock. Cut oversize blanks, then make a 1/4-in.-plywood pattern of the leg shape. Transfer the shape to the blanks and cut to the line with a band saw. A jigsaw will also do the job, but use a sharp, new blade designed for fast cutting. Don&amp;#039;t use orbital action if you have that option--the cut will be less accurate. Sand, file or scrape the sawn edges smooth. If you have a spokeshave, that&amp;#039;ll work on the top edge of each leg. A drum sander in a drill press is also a good choice, but stay away from trying to use it with a portable drill if you want edges that are square to the leg faces. Step 6: Adding the Legs  Use a doweling jig to guide your drill when boring the hanger-bolt pilot holes, then round the top edges of the legs with a 3/8-in.-radius rounding-over bit mounted in a router table. Mount the hanger bolts in the holes with locking pliers. Sand the pedestal and legs, finishing off with 220-grit paper.  Step 7: Adding the Legs  Lay out the bolt-hole locations in the pedestal, bore the holes and secure the feet with nuts and washers. Step 8: Shaping the Round Parts  To make the 52 3/8-in.-dia. circular table base out of a 4 x 8-ft. sheet of plywood, add two 4-in.-wide strips to the sides of a 54-in.-long blank. Make a trammel, or beam compass, that pivots on a 3/8-in. dowel set in a hole at the panel center, and mark the circle across all three pieces. Step 9: Shaping the Round Parts  Lay out joining plate positions in adjacent pieces and cut the slots. Then, apply glue, install the plates and clamp the assembly for an hour. Step 10: Shaping the Round Parts  You could cut the circular table base with a jigsaw, but this will leave a rough edge that requires more work to finish. For a perfect circle with a very even edge, we made the cut with a plunge router mounted on a trammel. Build the trammel out of 1/2-in.-thick plywood, mount the router on one end and install a straight bit. Measure from the bit edge to find the pivot point. Slowly lower the bit into the plywood as you swing the router around the arc. You can use the trammel for the other circular parts by shifting the pivot point. Step 11: Forming the Veneered Ring  To make the veneered ring, you first need to make a plywood pattern. Then, cut plywood core blanks for the veneered segments so they&amp;#039;re an inch or so larger than finished size. Use a utility knife to cut the top and backer veneers to match the blanks. Don&amp;#039;t be tempted to leave off the backer veneer, but do feel free to use a cheaper species here because it won&amp;#039;t be seen. The particular top veneer we used, called camphor burl, is oily, so you need to clean it with alcohol or paint thinner and let it dry before applying glue. Regular wood glue will work, but Titebond Cold Press for Veneer is better because it has a longer open time.  Spread glue on one side of the core, lay the core on the backer veneer, then spread glue and add the top veneer. Step 12: Forming the Veneered Ring  Cover both sides with waxed or kraft paper, add 3/4-in. plywood cauls and clamp for at least 2 hours. When you feel comfortable with the operation, you can stack two or three segments together and clamp them all at once. Just be sure to place paper between the segments. Step 13: Forming the Veneered Ring  To trim them to exact size, first cut the 15-degree angle on each end and then clamp them to the plywood pattern.  Step 14: Forming the Veneered Ring  Double-check that the seams fit well, then secure them with screws driven from underneath. Cut the segments to within about 1/4 in. from the pattern edges with a jigsaw, and use a flush trimming bit in a router to make the final cuts. Step 15: Forming the Veneered Ring  Lay out the veneer ring outlines on the table base panel, then use these circles as a guide for positioning the veneer segments. Clamp each in place. When you&amp;#039;re satisfied with the fit, remove each segment in turn, apply glue to its back, then screw it to the table base. Use a holesaw to cut the drink-holder holes, and finish the veneered ring with three coats of polyurethane varnish. Step 16: Making the Padded Surfaces  The outer edge of the padded-rail ring is built up with eight narrow segments to thicken the top&amp;#039;s edge. Make a template of the segment and use this to lay out the pieces. Screw each to the underside of the padded-ring core so it overhangs 1/4 in.. Then, use a flush-trimming bit to rout the segments to match the ring. Switch to a 3/8-in. rounding-over bit to shape the top edge of the ring, and use a 1/4-in. version to round the edge of the center playing-surface panel. Step 17: Making the Padded Surfaces  To finish the playing surface, cut 1/4-in. closed-cell foam a few inches larger than the circle. Lay the panel on the foam and trace the outline. Coat both the panel and the foam with spray adhesive. After a minute or two, invert the panel and press it onto the foam. Using a small block of 3/4-in.-thick wood as a guide, trim the foam so that it overhangs the panel. Step 18: Making the Padded Surfaces  Cut the cloth about 12 in. larger than the panel. Lay the cloth finished side down on a table and center the foam-covered panel on it. Fold the cloth onto the panel, drive three closely spaced staples, then move to the opposite side and drive three more. Repeat the process at 90 degrees, then, moving from one side to the other, fasten the cloth around the perimeter. When you&amp;#039;re done, slide the panel inside the veneer ring and secure it with screws. Step 19: Making the Padded Surfaces  Lay the outer ring on 1-in.-thick high-density foam and trace the inner edge of the ring on the foam. Then use a spacer to mark the outer foam cutline 1 1/2 in. from the ring. Cut the foam to the lines, and bond it to the ring with spray adhesive.  Step 20: Making the Padded Surfaces  The vinyl fabric for the padded ring comes in 54-in.-wide rolls, so you&amp;#039;ll need to do some sewing to make the required 72-in.-dia. piece. Staple it on the same way you attached the center panel. Step 21: Making the Padded Surfaces  When the perimeter is secure, make radial cuts on the inside, stopping about 4 in. short of the ring. Then stretch the vinyl toward the ring and staple. Check for wrinkles before trimming the excess. Fasten the ring with screws, and then join the pedestal to the top. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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