When you’re shopping online for a poker table, you may find it hard to distinguish one product from another, especially if you’ve never bought one before. That’s why we put together our Ultimate Poker Table Buying Guide to show you how to make the best choice – and host a great poker night with friends and family! 

The truth is that not all poker tables are equal, especially when it comes to how easy the felt stains, rips, and tears – all of which happen all the time with cheaper, bargain poker tables. 

So, to give you an idea of where to start, let’s go over the main reasons why people buy a poker table in the first place. 

Who needs a poker table in the first place? 

You may want to buy a poker table for many reasons, but is it the best choice? That’s a question all consumers have to ask themselves, and shopping for items like poker tables is no different. 

If you’re just learning how to play cards, not even poker just yet, having a good table at home is a great way to practice the basics like cupping and protecting your hand from prying eyes and shuffling too. That’s something you can’t really learn playing on a kitchen table or any other playing surface that isn’t ideal for card games. When you toss the cards, they’ll slide too far, and you won’t be able to pick them up quickly. 

If you’re a seasoned player, having your own table gives you several advantages. First and foremost, you’ll be more comfortable playing in your own home, which is a major consideration. Second, the mechanics of the game – the dealing, raising bets, and high fives after someone takes down a huge pot – will go along much smoother with a good table. 

But the good news is that you can also be an ordinary hobbyist who doesn’t play poker very often, and that’s why the smaller poker tables are available for the more casual use cases when you only play once every few months. 

Yet, you may still be curious about why you should own a table in the first place, so here are the top three reasons. 

Top three reasons to own a poker table at home 

There are a handful of reasons why you’d want to buy your own poker table, including things like: 

• You want to learn how to play on a real table. 
• You’re going to be hosting games at home. 
• You want to practice dealing and pitching cards. 

Without a doubt, you may have other reasons why you want a poker table, but these are the most common. 

Now let’s give you a few tips for using your poker table for incredible gaming and playing cards. 

Four Tips for choosing a poker table 

At a minimum, you should compare poker tables based on type, size, length, and all of the bells and whistles that come along with them. But the quality of the materials themselves is arguably the most overlooked part of a good poker table. 

Size and shape 

Poker tables come in different sizes, and they mainly differ based on the width and how many people can sit around the table while they play. Some are smaller because they’re designed for tight places, and others are more luxurious because they’re intended for more experienced poker enthusiasts who want a casino-like experience. 

But the trick to buying a good one is that the dealer has to be able to reach all of the players and the chips, so there’s such a thing as buying a table that’s too big for the type of game you’re hosting. Some of the octagonal-shaped tables also may not fit on a standard kitchen table length-wise. It’ll do the job, but the game will be awkward when you have to pitch cards five feet away to reach everybody. 

Elbow room and space between players are also important to prevent cheating or the temptation to cheat by peeking at other players’ cards. This is why you might want to seriously consider a table like the Soozier 72″ 8-Player Poker Table Set with Eight Steel Cup Holders and a Classic Design for Folding for Storage. 

Also, height is another consideration, but it usually doesn’t come into play when you buy most tables. Heavy wooden, lacquered tables like the ones you’d see in casinos are the exception because they have to be a  certain height to comply with gambling regulations in certain states. 

Length 

Along those lines, you essentially have two choices with respect to a length: a long, oblong table or a multi-sided, octagon-shaped table like the Soozier 48″ 8-Player Octagon Poker Table with Cup Holders, Folding Top, and Blue Felt available at Aosom.com. 

The standard length for a high-end table is anywhere between 92 and 104 inches end-to-end. Width-wise casino-class tables span 44 inches to give the dealer plenty of room to reach the middle of the table after each hand. 

So, if you’re only playing a five-handed home game, buying a larger table like this isn’t the best choice. In this case, a shorter table about 48 inches wide or a tabletop is ideal for how often you play to use it. The risk is that if you buy a table that’s too big, you’ll have more misdeals and potential disputes over string betting because everyone will need to toss their cards far simply to play correctly. 

It’s fun for a while, but after a few hands splashing the pot just to make a single bet, it gets old really fast. 

Comfort features 

You should also keep a table’s comfort features in mind because it can make or break your home game and first poker night. One common perk of a mid-range poker table is padded rails for leaning over and resting your elbows. 

You may not think so, but a padded rail goes a long way during a lengthy Hold ‘Em Tournament with eight players per table. The cup holders’ depth is also something to look for because cheaper tables may only have small indentations that make it easy to spill a drink. 

Material quality 

Ordinary wear and tear are also overlooked when people buy poker tables online. So, Aosom has higher quality poker tables like the Soozier 3.9 ft 8-Player Octagon Poker Table with Cup Holders Folding Green Top when you’d rather pay extra for a well-made item. This perk is significant if you plan to host multiple games with more than five hands in the game until people start to get blinded out. 

Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re thinking about buying a poker table from Aosom, and you’ll surely get great value in return.