BBO Aces Pro Alpha Poker Table - Feedback (3 Viewers)

[Kam]

*Edit - Changed name of thread from Gorilla to BBO to avoid confusion based on purchase decision

Hey all,

Time to bite the bullet and invest in a long term / high end poker table. Started 20 years ago on a cheap folding octagon table topper with the crappy plastic trays for chips that folded in half with a carry case that I’d take to home games (yes, with my 11.5g plastic dice chips and metal slugs…), then ended up with a Fat Cat poker table for 16 years that I just donated to someone else.

I’ve been through the forums looking at the different vendors/ pricing etc, and keep coming back to Gorilla for what I’m looking for. It really looks like decent barrington type options around $200-$350, then Triton $1500-$2000k then 3-4 higher end players in the market at the $2k+++. I looked at the Barrington LED table in Costco for $230, awesome deal but time to level up…

Plan to have a custom felt to match the chip theme (still in work).

The USB sockets seems pretty frivolous for the cost, so I’ve been flip flopping on that. Do folk find people use them (if you have them)? This will be for home games, and think it’ll be 4-6 hour type sessions.

I like the idea of the swing out cupholders, had more than one beer knocked over onto my old table.

Here’s the outline below - interested in feedback/ thoughts if anyone has experience with Gorilla.

Also - is this vendor known to offer any PCF type discount or Black Friday /Cyber Monday deals?

Cheers

Kam

 

[Buge]

Hey Kam, personally I think the usb chargers are a waste. Nobody’s phone should be dead after a 6 hour session at a home game. I’m not a huge fan of people being on their phones during a home game anyway. These games are an opportunity for all the guys and gals to get together to hangout and chat while playing cards. Thumbs down to usb charger for me.

 

[pocketJs]

Agreed on the USB charger. Save yourself $450. But I recently got a Gorilla table and have been thoroughly impressed with the quality. Table, felt, rail, cup holders, table legs, etc. everything is top notch and worth the investment.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Id look at @T_Chan on here for high quality custom tables! Agreed with the chargers being gimmicks.

 

[doublebooyah85]

I’d recommend the elliptical table layout vs traditional oval.

I’d also would rather have a shuffletech installed rather than usb chargers. I have USB chargers on my poker table and I do like it, but don’t forget it now requires a cord for the table to be plugged in.

Also on this forum most people like Chanman tables.

Also the cup holders that swing out…I’m torn if I would order those again. They get loose and have fallen. People also forget they are there and hit their knees. I think I’d rather just have them in the rail.

 

[Tonysquander]

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...e-shuffletech-and-some-poker-room-pr0n.82231/

Great review/info from @doublebooyah85 in thread above. Different table I think but lots of good info.

FWIW I recently had a table built by a different vendor and weighed the pros/cons of chargers and swing out cupholders. I decided to go with holders in the rail and no chargers and have no complaints/remorse.

 

[Kam]

Awesome - thanks for the feedback everyone.

@doublebooyah85 - that’s quite the poker basement setup, very nice.

I did look at the Chanman tables, but the starting price is outside of my budget unfortunately.

Why do you suggest the elliptical vs oval? I was actually looking at @Taghkanic setup, but more for inspiration from his Hoyle chip designs, looks like he has the elliptical table (also another incredible overall setup):

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/hoyle-harvest-set.104408/

Agreed on the feedback about the USBs, was 50/50, so took them off. The wife felt pretty strongly about the swing out cup holders and after looking at them on @Taghkanic’s table above, think we’ll keep them in. I’ll need to do a bit more research on the elliptical, don’t really know the pros/cons yet, but it’d be this with a custom felt if I go that direction:

Cheers

Kam

 

[allforcharity]

I did look at the Chanman tables, but the starting price is outside of my budget unfortunately.

You do know that his website price quotes are in Canadian dollars, right? CAD sucks right now, so multiply by 0.72 to get rough US dollar equivalent pricing.

 

[rrobyrrroby]

Don't waste money for the usb sockets. Buy instead a power bank.
If someone is running out of battery... here you go!
In my opinion, the best poker table gadget is the drawer for chips/cards.
If GG is not offering this feature, you can easily install it yourself.

This is my table with a sliding chips tray.

 

[Kam]

You do know that his website price quotes are in Canadian dollars, right? CAD sucks right now, so multiply by 0.72 to get rough US dollar equivalent pricing.

I actually completely missed that… honestly. Thanks for pointing out. I did go back and play around with design options, unfortunately still outside my budget after factoring in exchange rate. Some of the best customs on the forum seem to be from him.

Don't waste money for the usb sockets. Buy instead a power bank.
If someone is running out of battery... here you go!
In my opinion, the best poker table gadget is the drawer for chips/cards.
If GG is not offering this feature, you can easily install it yourself.

View attachment 1410006
This is my table with a sliding chips tray.

Oooo… that chip tray does look pretty useful.

Cheers

Kam

 

[Taghkanic]

Awesome - thanks for the feedback everyone.

@doublebooyah85 - that’s quite the poker basement setup, very nice.

I did look at the Chanman tables, but the starting price is outside of my budget unfortunately.

Why do you suggest the elliptical vs oval? I was actually looking at @Taghkanic setup, but more for inspiration from his Hoyle chip designs, looks like he has the elliptical table (also another incredible overall setup):

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/hoyle-harvest-set.104408/

View attachment 1409930

Agreed on the feedback about the USBs, was 50/50, so took them off. The wife felt pretty strongly about the swing out cup holders and after looking at them on @Taghkanic’s table above, think we’ll keep them in. I’ll need to do a bit more research on the elliptical, don’t really know the pros/cons yet, but it’d be this with a custom felt if I go that direction:

View attachment 1409931

Cheers

Kam

Now with comfier chairs! Anyway very happy with my super-elliptical.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Just an extra 'yes' to the drawer, installed a basic one on the Barrington and its been very useful for bank, rebuys, extra cards, whatever you need.

 

[upNdown]

I can vouch for Gorilla's quality - top notch stuff! I'd buy from them again in a hearbeat, though I expect mine will last a lifetime.

I don't know about those swing-out cupholders. Have you ever used them? I haven't, but they look annoying as heck to me. Anyway, FWIW, I have jumbo in-rail cupholders and not only have I never had a spill, but it seems nearly impossible to spill.

 

[doublebooyah85]

@Taghkanic what’s your opinion on the slide out cup holders? I’m 50/50 if I would do it again.

 

[Nymor]

On my home build table the cup holders don't slide out as such, but are attached under the rail between seats as opposed to in the rail or the table itself.

I went with this option as I really don't like being crowded and having them between players prevents anyone spreading out too much and keeps everyone in their own lane so to speak. I'll put up with lack of personal space at my local pub league games but at my own games I'm going to be comfortable.

 

[TheYeti]

Great advice already in this thread. Don't think anyone really answered your question about oval vs. ellipse. The ellipse allows for much better sight-lines around the entire table, as well as making it easier to deal from the ends.

Do you have a dedicated dealer? If not, ditch the dealer cut-out. Without a dealer, it's just annoying unusable space.

I also think the slide out cupholders would be more of a pain than they are worth. I use slide-under cupholders on my DIY table and they work great. Not sure if the GG tables have space under the rail for them to slide though.

 

[Kam]

Thanks - to be honest never strongly considered the ellipse before the feedback here, my ignorant view was less table space therefore maybe a bit more crampt - but I get your point, leaning towards the ellipse now.

We don’t have a dedicated dealer per se (I don’t have an active home game just now), but normally I would volunteer to be the dealer as I find it goes faster, so I sit in the middle spot. I have two decks, other folk (pre-button etc) shuffle during the hand, someone else cuts and I deal. I haven’t played with a dealer cut out, but thought it’d be easier for me to deal from the middle and not have the awkward elbow space at the rail.

Since it’s fairly small stakes and not regs, most folk haven’t been that comfortable dealing and I don’t mind doing since it also helps I find on the ‘coaching’ aspect of staying on top of the action by player and not waiting 30 seconds for sidebar chats etc.

Noted on the cupholders, still leaning towards them but not 100%.

Appreciate the insight @TheYeti

Cheers

Kam

 

[TheYeti]

If I had to deal every hand of every game I hosted, I don't think I'd be hosting very long ... or at least not very often.

 

[bergs]

3 Gorilla tables, two pub sized and one large. Cupholders in rail. All 3 are great. Get the Gorilla legs.

 

[Chris Manzoni]

Love the look and size of the pub tables - are these the 66" long or 72" long models?

 

[DeeVee8]

+1 with no USB. I'm a no to cup holders, imho. I prefer rolling carts with cupholders or even TV trays or a ledge on the outside wall of the room.

 

[Kam]

+1 with no USB. I'm a no to cup holders, imho. I prefer rolling carts with cupholders or even TV trays or a ledge on the outside wall of the room.

Understood on the cupholders, I don’t really have the real estate or storage space for the rolling carts although they’re better. We’ll be mixing it up between the dining room and garage, so prefer to have it part of the table for my setup.

Agreed, think the USBs are killed off now,

Cheers

Kam

 

[Taghkanic]

@Taghkanic what’s your opinion on the slide out cup holders? I’m 50/50 if I would do it again.

They are fine... Sometimes the screws need tightening. Note that I would call these more “flip out” than “slide out” on my Illuminati table. They rotate out from one swivel screw, rather than getting pushed in.

I do much prefer them under the table than in the rail.

The other issue (as with any cupholder built into a table) is that they are not always in the best position depending on how many people you have. When we play 8-handed plus a dealer, they’re pretty well situated. If it balloons to 9+dealer or shrinks below 8 players, and people move their seats a but to make room, now you’re staggered with the cupholders.

If you almost always have a certain number of people, but the cupholders aren't quite where you want them, it looks pretty easy to move them to another spot with just a little careful drilling.

I find that only about half my players use them. The others either don’t drink at the table or use side tables instead.

 

[Old State]

Don't waste money for the usb sockets. Buy instead a power bank.
If someone is running out of battery... here you go!
In my opinion, the best poker table gadget is the drawer for chips/cards.
If GG is not offering this feature, you can easily install it yourself.

View attachment 1410006
This is my table with a sliding chips tray.

Yup! My Grandfather and I did that in my table I built in 2004!

 

[Kam]

Nice - defo on the short list for table mods. Will wait until I get it to make sure I’m comfortable with the height + installation height needed for the drawer, but should work based on the examples here

Cheers

Kam

 

[Kam]

Update - checked back in to see if there’s any Black Friday deals:

Removing shipping for both:
Nothing for Gorilla, so $3,034 for elliptical
20% off for BBO, so ~$3,000 - $600 = ~$2,400

BBO don’t do the Ellipse style or the slide out cup holders, however their custom design cloth is ‘unlimited’ revisions vs Gorilla’s 1 hr design time. The LED lights come with a controller to change the color, I prefer the look of the armrest carbon fiber cover and I added a heavy duty travel bag (really just help protect it when in storage in the garage).

Going to keep checking for other options but the 20% off seems like a great deal here:

 

[Kam]

Ok, trigger pulled. Went with BBO. They also threw in a 500 piece ceramic set that I can use for tournaments (let me pick the quantity & denoms out of the options). Planning to do a custom tournie set eventually, but thats a ways out so a nice little bonus:

Will post an update/review when I receive the table.

Kam

 

[Kam]

First draft felt design received. Not quite what I was looking for, although to be fair this was created based off of my first email and directionally is aligned. Will make some suggestions and iterate (open to feedback as well).

In general I'm trying to have the edges (closer to the rail and outside of the bet line) to be a color gradient, almost as if it’s the ocean closer to shore, lighter at the rail, and going through a more turquoise/blue towards the darker deep blue center. The theme being the center is the deep blue/ open ocean.

I also asked if we could incorporate some kelp elements, but I think I'll probably remove these. Not 100% on the font / logos.

Some of the color inspiration (something I like to drink and one of our fishing kayak paddles in the garage / 'poker room':

Version 1:

Version 2:

Version 3:

Cheers
Kam

 

[Lts923]

Option 2 with cup holders looks great!

 

[Kam]

Yeah - there will be brass cupholders in the rail, although only one draft design showed these. I did ask for the writing / logo color to try and tie in with the brass color.