How big?

The first step I guess when deciding to build a poker table would be to decide the size you want.  Sounds simple right?  But if you're going to the trouble of building your own table, why not make it exactly the size you want?

The layout that comes with the RFID kit is for a 44"x82" table.  This layout is what you use as a template to router the spaces where the electronics will sit.  So obviously I'll have to re-work the template if I change the size.

The tables intention is to broadcast a final table of a tournament.  For TV purposes, 10 handed is a disaster.  too much action, too much to follow, too many conversations.  Both the World Poker Tour and High Stakes Poker broadcast 6 handed play, and the World Series does 9.  To shave a little on cost of RFID receivers I need to purchase, I can build a table for 6 players.

So With 6 players, I didn't want a huge full size table.  It'd look too roomy on TV, and there might be a lack of personality moments if the players felt too "alone".  So a shorter table was in order.  I settled on 74".  That allows players to be close enough, and still on one side of the table for good camera angles.

I cam up with this, sent it off to Andrew at VideoPokerTable.net to make sure all the electronics would work the positions I had to move them too, and got his approval.

So in the above picture, you can see the player positions and their RFID receivers, sitting from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock.  The receiver for the flop is pretty obvious. And the dealer position would be at 6 o'clock.  The dealer actually gets a receiver for the "muck".  That way the software knows when a player has folded.  Right above the Muck receiver is the location where the Brain goes.  All the receivers have channels for their cables to be run to the Brain.  From the Brain, its a single USB cable that comes out the bottom of the table.

Pretty slick.