Da Vinci 2-Sided Poker and Blackjack Felt Table Cloth
Last year (in 2012), it was my turn to host poker in our annual game. This was my first hosting since my Regan and I bought our house. And while I previously I hosted many times at my condo and once at Regan's condo when I moved in there, I never had a concern around the table we used. In my condo, I would just use my large wooden coffee table around the couch, and a spare, smaller wooden "kitchen" table table if I had overflow. At Regan's condo I just used the party room.
However, this was different. I had sold the two wooden tables I had and we were using Regan's glass dining table. Two issues jumped to my mind. I don't want to scratch with the quarters moving all over the table, and I don't want any "accidental" reflections showing someones cards.
While I could have used an ordinary table cloth at the dollar store, that just isn't my style. I wanted to get something with a poker feel to it. My initial though was get some green felt that has a "casino" feel to it. So I did some searching for a solution and found several options. In the end, the Da Vinci poker felt was near perfect for what I wanted. And since it was on Amazon, I felt I could have some trust in the seller.
I ordered the felt on Monday. It cost me about $15 at the time, and I paid around $20 for expedited delivery (since I was hosting on the upcoming Saturday). While the expedited delivery is expensive, it did get to my house, in Canada (across the border) in time.
My first impression was a bit of concern. When I received it, it was folded and packed in a very compact manner. While I get while they did that (needed for shipping), it created some nasty crease lines in the felt. I didn't want to use it that way as it make sliding the coins and cards more of a hassle. So I took a risk and pulled out my trusty iron and attempted to iron out the creases, using a medium heat. And with a little bit elbow grease (i.e. really working hard to get the creases out), they finally disappeared.
Now, the second question was how well would it really fit our table. I was worried that the dimensions could have been off (our table is a condo-sized 6 person table). Thankfully, the cover fit with just a little bit over overhang. If you have a similar table you will be good, but if it gets too big the cloth with not cover your entire table (which may not really be an issue if it covers 80% of your surface anyway).
Lastly, we were ready to test playability on Saturday night. I found that it was smooth, the cards and coins slide well on it, the beer bottles didn't leave any ring stains on it, and in general it had a great poker feel to it.
If you are in the market for a poker table cloth, I do recommend it. You can buy the Da Vinci Poker/Blackjack table cloth at Amazon.com by clicking the hyperlinks in this article. It worked well for me, and is not that expensive.
