I’ll wait until then to see what size hole I need. I’m not sure of the exact dimensions of the chip holder area or the cup holder hole yet, since I haven’t gotten the cup holders in the mail yet. I’ve made some calculations based on using a 4′×4′ piece of plywood as the table base and determined the following measurements: Once you cut out 8 of them and glue them together, the goal is to end up with something like this: To start, the playing surface will be made up of 8 pieces that each look like this: It’ll save me a lot of time and, probably, frustration. Building something like that is probably beyond my ability, so for a pretty reasonable price, I just had them ship a set to me. I also decided to buy the pedestal base and legs already made from a great little company in Tennessee called Adams Wood Products. Keeping that in mind, I tend to draw up plans based around this philosophy. Whenever I do a project like this, I always try to work with commonly available wood stock sizes and materials, so it’s cost-effective and easy for someone else to replicate. I’ll do my best to provide as much detail as I can throughout the process, and I’ll try to take a lot of photos. Since my family and I love board and card games, a table like this is a perfect project for me. I simply enjoy building things as a hobby, and I try to build things I know I’ll use and love. Let me be clear: I am not a professional woodworker. It will be written as I work on the table, hopefully all within the next few weeks.

This is the first in a series of posts recording my experience building a solid oak, octagon-shaped poker or game table. This is the 1st part of a multi-part series.

Octagon folding poker table with legs