Poker Table Felt Options

Velveteen, Billiard Cloth, Casino Cloth, Felt

      When you choose what poker table felt to use there are several things to keep in mind.  People use billiard cloth, velveteen, casino cloth, and standard felt.  We'll explore the differences in each of these poker table felts.

Standard Felt

      Through trial and error I've decided that actual felt, believe it or not, is the worst poker table felt you

A variety of playing surface fabrics are available HERE

can possibly use.  The reason is that after only a few hours of play you will find that your table looks a lot like your grandpa's old flannel shirt.  It is covered with little balls of fabric.  Standard felt is not durable at all and should not be used for your poker table unless you are on a really tight budget.

Casino Cloth

      I've found that casino cloth holds up a lot better than regular felt, but the cards don't slide accrost it like you may want them to.  If you plan to use plastic cards like KEM or Copag, then casino cloth isn't probably best.  Ive also found places that will custom print casino cloth for you so if you're interested in any type of graphic on your poker table felt then this may be one way to go.

Billiard Cloth

      Billiard cloth holds up better than casino cloth.  It doesn't show wear quite as bad as standard felt, but it doesnt look as nice as is could in my opinion.  If you've ever looked at a pool or billiard table you know exactly what billiard cloth is.  It has to be durable to withstand all the wear it takes from people playing pool on it, but its expensive.  Too expensive for the quality if you ask me.

Velveteen

      All my tables have velveteen on them.  I like it because it looks really nice, it never balls up, its not too expensive, and the cards slide nicely accrost it.  The problem is that when you are upholstering your table, you may stretch it too far and the velveteen shows stress marks then.  These marks do not go away.  If you decide to use velveteen be very carefull when putting it on the table.  Its not too expensive, but if you have to buy a whole new piece it can start to get expensive.

      There are several other things people use as poker table felt, but these are the ones that I have experamented with.  If you have had a good or bad experience with other materials let us know at Contact Us so that we can spread the word.