Round vs oval vs octagon tables for 8 player self dealt games? (1 Viewer)

[Mental Nomad]

It hasn't been a problem... We've been using it for 6 years with no problemos.

I get that it works for you guys; I'm not doubting you. I'm asking about it. I'm trying to understand how it works.

As they rake the chips, they're usually happy enough to push the cards.

Does someone else have to push the chips halfway for them? Or is the winner getting up to pull the pot?

No different than playing on an oval table if you're one of the lucky 4 at either end.

Yeah, but any of the other six people at the table can easily reach the whole pot to get it to the "lucky 4." On a circular or octagonal table of that size, it seems to me that nobody could reach the whole pot without someone else pushing... or else the person pulling the pot has to get up. Is that what they're doing?

 

[mummel]

I recently played 6 man at a round table. I forgot how awesome that type of layout is. I love the social aspect. Such much easier to deal and rake chips too etc. A circle table is a great setup for smaller games if you have the space to compliment a 10 man oval.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

I get that it works for you guys; I'm not doubting you. I'm asking about it. I'm trying to understand how it works.



Does someone else have to push the chips halfway for them? Or is the winner getting up to pull the pot?



Yeah, but any of the other six people at the table can easily reach the whole pot to get it to the "lucky 4." On a circular or octagonal table of that size, it seems to me that nobody could reach the whole pot without someone else pushing... or else the person pulling the pot has to get up. Is that what they're doing?

A smaller table would definitely be better for a small group, but we're always running heavy and players like a little more elbow room. On the smaller table, it gets a bit tight for the bigger guys.

We don't give the card pushing or pulling a lot of thought. But here's what I do when I deal. I pull all the calls in before rolling the flop and push the discards 2 players to my left so they're in front of the person who gets them next. The discards go there too as I roll out the flop and turn. The winner rakes the chips and pushes any straggler cards to where they go. Just a matter of preference I suppose, but I like the extra elbow room...even at the cost of having to assist a friend with their chips or cards from time to time. I honestly haven't given it any thought until you brought it up.

 

[Mental Nomad]

I'm still not clear here. I'm not trying to nitpick, I just don't understand... I have a full-size holdem table (with dining table top) as my main, and I'm debating about adding a second table, and that one is undecided.

The winner rakes the chips and pushes any straggler cards to where they go. Just a matter of preference I suppose, but I like the extra elbow room...even at the cost of having to assist a friend with their chips or cards from time to time. I honestly haven't given it any thought until you brought it up.

I assume you mean the winner pulls in the chips (as opposed to taking a rake), but how do they reach them? Does someone else first give the chips a push? Or does the winner stand up to collect the pot? I can think of regs who are much too short, or who are so fat that it would keep them from reaching - and they're so big that it's an issue if they have to get up over and over (yes, that big.) When I moved into my current apartment, the first question I got was, "is there an elevator?"

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

I'm still not clear here. I'm not trying to nitpick, I just don't understand... I have a full-size holdem table (with dining table top) as my main, and I'm debating about adding a second table, and that one is undecided.



I assume you mean the winner pulls in the chips (as opposed to taking a rake), but how do they reach them? Does someone else first give the chips a push? Or does the winner stand up to collect the pot? I can think of regs who are much too short, or who are so fat that it would keep them from reaching - and they're so big that it's an issue if they have to get up over and over (yes, that big.) When I moved into my current apartment, the first question I got was, "is there an elevator?"

Since we're comparing against 3 options, all of which I have at my disposal, let me run a little scientific test this Friday (at least as scientific as one can be drinking Gin-n-tonics while playing poker). Here's what I'll do.

1. I will enlist 3 people (secretly) and select 3 test subjects to run a test on at each table.

2. We will keep track 2 times, for a 1 hour interval each time, 1 at the beginning and 1 toward the middle, and we will observe how many times:

A. The test subject rakes (pulls in) his/her chips with no assistance.

B. How many times they stood up to pull in chips.

C. How many times somebody had to assist them with their chips.

I will consider an assist either pushing pulling or sweeping sideways of chips where a player was not the winner.

Edit: I will also take a poll of which table each of my Seeking Alpha peeps prefers playing on.

 

[Poker Zombie]

When you say "A little more elbow room" I have to ask how much do you need? Elbow room can get tight in the moddle of an oval, because everyone there is facing the same direction. On an octagon, circle, or the "lucky 4" on an oval are the players are not side-by-side, which gives increased elbow-room. Here's a shot of my 56" octagon. Setting up to side-tables and stretching a tape measure, we see that each player has 2' of elbow room.

By my calculations s = h/(1+√2) a 68" table is a luxurious 2'4", but you require everyone to reach (on average) an extra 6" further.

For anyone contemplating a new octagon, I would never recommend more than 58", unless your players are all 6'5".

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

When you say "A little more elbow room" I have to ask how much do you need? Elbow room can get tight in the moddle of an oval, because everyone there is facing the same direction. On an octagon, circle, or the "lucky 4" on an oval are the players are not side-by-side, which gives increased elbow-room. Here's a shot of my 56" octagon. Setting up to side-tables and stretching a tape measure, we see that each player has 2' of elbow room.

By my calculations s = h/(1+√2) a 68" table is a luxurious 2'4", but you require everyone to reach (on average) an extra 6" further.

For anyone contemplating a new octagon, I would never recommend more than 58", unless your players are all 6'5".

View attachment 74886

Good news is I have both...so if somebody has issues with the large they can move to the little. I can honestly say I never have people asking me if they can move to the little octagon, but frequently have players requesting/hoping to be on the big. Bigger table allows for wider more comfortable chairs too.

For the poll, I'll ask a simple question, "I'm getting ready to build a new table. Should I build an oval, an octagon the size of the small, or a large octagon?" I have 16 to 26 regulars every Friday ĺsince 2009), so they have had a lot of experience with each of my tables. I'll let you know how the poll goes.

I'll also measure the rail tonight and the chairs to give you a precise measurement of how much more elbow room is available.

Friday I'll take a picture of 8 players at the small octagon and 8 at the big, and you can see the difference.

Curious. Have you played on a larger octagon table or just speculating?

 

[BGinGA]

Have you played on a larger octagon table or just speculating?

I've played on a 60" round table before and despised it -- tons of hopping up and down just to reach the center, belly flops knocking over stacks, just a real pita. I'm not a huge guy, but I'm not that alligator that can't reach to pick up the check, either.

So I'd be speculating re: a 68" table, but would feel pretty comfortable in my unbiased hatred for one.....

54" diameter is about the largest I'd want to play on regularly, but I have a strong preference for oval (or elliptical) tables with a dedicated dealer.

Will be interesting to see the results of your test and poll. Make sure you include the dimensions of the humans, as well. It may be a matter of perspective.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

I've played on a 60" round table before and despised it -- tons of hopping up and down just to reach the center, belly flops knocking over stacks, just a real pita. I'm not a huge guy, but I'm not that alligator that can't reach to pick up the check, either.

So I'd be speculating re: a 68" table, but would feel pretty comfortable in my unbiased hatred for one.....

54" diameter is about the largest I'd want to play on regularly, but I have a strong preference for oval (or elliptical) tables with a dedicated dealer.

Will be interesting to see the results of your test and poll. Make sure you include the dimensions of the humans, as well. It may be a matter of perspective.

Will do. I'll include photos too so you can judge player size.

Also. Here's what I can say about my situation, which may differ from others. We typically have 16+ players each week, but it's pretty common to start with 8 to 10 showing up early with others showing up later. With the bigger table, we play until we get an 11th player and then split to 2 tables. Additionally, players are eager to combine down to 1 table of 10 at the end of the night versus staying at 2 tables of 5. They hate playing 5 at a table because we have smokers who step out back to smoke resulting in 4 or even just 3 at the table from time to time.

So, what I would say is that if you're only going to have 8 or less; there's probably no advantage to having an oversized table. However, you could never even comfortably fit 9 at the smaller octagon.

I put the poll out there and will update you when I get a significant number of responses. I will say that one of my larger players already responded and surprised me with his preference for the smaller octagon. But the large is still a 2 to 1 favorite with a whopping 3 votes in

 

[Poker Zombie]

re: the poll

Poker players are like cold molasses. They will slowly adapt over time to what they have, and then be slow to change if something better (or just different) came along. I remember playing in Vegas card rooms like O'Sheas and Imperial Palace. Uncomfortable, noisy, stinky, and general crap tables, chairs, and for the most part, dealers. Still, the places had regulars. Even with nicer card rooms everywhere, people chose to play in inferior rooms.

I suspect that your players will prefer bigger tables because that is your "main" table and the table to which they have become acclimated.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

re: the poll

Poker players are like cold molasses. They will slowly adapt over time to what they have, and then be slow to change if something better (or just different) came along. I remember playing in Vegas card rooms like O'Sheas and Imperial Palace. Uncomfortable, noisy, stinky, and general crap tables, chairs, and for the most part, dealers. Still, the places had regulars. Even with nicer card rooms everywhere, people chose to play in inferior rooms.

I suspect that your players will prefer bigger tables because that is your "main" table and the table to which they have become acclimated.

LOL...Maybe. But the little table is right next to the open bar and kegrator; and 5 feet from the bathroom. ALL highly coveted amenities among my crew

 

[Mental Nomad]

Since we're comparing against 3 options, all of which I have at my disposal, let me run a little scientific test this Friday (at least as scientific as one can be drinking Gin-n-tonics while playing poker). Here's what I'll do.

1. I will enlist 3 people (secretly) and select 3 test subjects to run a test on at each table.

2. We will keep track 2 times, for a 1 hour interval each time, 1 at the beginning and 1 toward the middle, and we will observe how many times:

A. The test subject rakes (pulls in) his/her chips with no assistance.

B. How many times they stood up to pull in chips.

C. How many times somebody had to assist them with their chips.

I will consider an assist either pushing pulling or sweeping sideways of chips where a player was not the winner.

Edit: I will also take a poll of which table each of my Seeking Alpha peeps prefers playing on.

SCIENCE!

 

[Mental Nomad]

I suspect that your players will prefer bigger tables because that is your "main" table and the table to which they have become acclimated.

Also, check your wording - some may prefer the 10-player table, but dislike the large table. In other words, like it for a different reason...

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

Also, check your wording - some may prefer the 10-player table, but dislike the large table. In other words, like it for a different reason...

Here's the language I put out there:

--------------

Hey peeps! I'm considering building a new table to put in the movie room. This is the 1st of 2 polls I will put out there. I would like EVERYBODY to chime in please, even players that have moved away, or only play every now and then.
If I build an octagon table, which would you prefer:

1. Large octagon table (same size as the current big one)

2. Small octagon table (same size as the current small one)

----------

The 2nd poll I reference above will ask if they prefer octagon, oval, or round. I wanted to first get their thoughts on the big versus small octagon table.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

Alright, here are the preliminary results on the preference for a large versus small octagon table. I have 26ish poker peeps in my group and 19 responded as follows:

Large = 15
Small = 4

One of the respondents (in yellow below) changed his vote to large, but I left it as small. He was the 1st vote in, and may or may not have been influenced by everybody else. Another respondent (in green) recommended small if I run 3 tables and large if I run 2. I put his vote as small.

The question I asked led the respondents to believe that I would be building a new table and putting it in a different location than we currently play in. This was an attempt to minimize players being attached to a certain location and instead get them to focus on the table itself.

Below is a list of the respondents, and attached are the Facebook posts and texts (for those not on FB). In the table below, I included whether they are male or female, their height, and an estimate of their weight to give you a sense for player size.

 

[72o]

Alright, here are the preliminary results on the preference for a large versus small octagon table. I have 26ish poker peeps in my group and 19 responded as follows:

Large = 15
Small = 4

One of the respondents (in yellow below) changed his vote to large, but I left it as small. He was the 1st vote in, and may or may not have been influenced by everybody else. Another respondent (in green) recommended small if I run 3 tables and large if I run 2. I put his vote as small.

The question I asked led the respondents to believe that I would be building a new table and putting it in a different location than we currently play in. This was an attempt to minimize players being attached to a certain location and instead get them to focus on the table itself.

Below is a list of the respondents, and attached are the Facebook posts and texts (for those not on FB). In the table below, I included whether they are male or female, their height, and an estimate of their weight to give you a sense for player size.

View attachment 74975 View attachment 74976 View attachment 74977 View attachment 74978 View attachment 74979 View attachment 74980 View attachment 74981 View attachment 74982 View attachment 74983

Cool poll. I would tend to listen to whatever the 6'2 275lb guy says though.

 

[joseywales]

I ruled out octagons because if you have fewer than 8 players then there are weird open spots.

Not true. We run 7, rarely 8, at my 54" octagon. No weirdness

 

[Poker Zombie]

Alright, here are the preliminary results on the preference for a large versus small octagon table. I have 26ish poker peeps in my group and 19 responded as follows:

Large = 15
Small = 4

One of the respondents (in yellow below) changed his vote to large, but I left it as small. He was the 1st vote in, and may or may not have been influenced by everybody else. Another respondent (in green) recommended small if I run 3 tables and large if I run 2. I put his vote as small.

The question I asked led the respondents to believe that I would be building a new table and putting it in a different location than we currently play in. This was an attempt to minimize players being attached to a certain location and instead get them to focus on the table itself.

Below is a list of the respondents, and attached are the Facebook posts and texts (for those not on FB). In the table below, I included whether they are male or female, their height, and an estimate of their weight to give you a sense for player size.

View attachment 74975 View attachment 74976 View attachment 74977 View attachment 74978 View attachment 74979 View attachment 74980 View attachment 74981 View attachment 74982 View attachment 74983

The comments are the most telling aspect. Supporters of the smaller table had reasons. Supporters of the larger table did not. I believe it to be the cold molasses effect mentioned in my prior post.

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

The comments are the most telling aspect. Supporters of the smaller table had reasons. Supporters of the larger table did not. I believe it to be the cold molasses effect mentioned in my prior post.

I disagree...but we'll agree to disagree (y) :thumbsup:

 

[72o]

In my opinion, having to get up or get assistance when winning a pot is a hell of a lot better than feeling like I can't properly lean on the rail with both elbows and play with my chips. I would have no problem with the largest table you can find/build, but I would have a problem on a small table.

 

[pltrgyst]

The only thing I have against round or octagonal tables is that IMO players tend to splash the pot more on them. Not a biggie, though -- one threat of ritual disembowelment usually takes care of that.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever seen a round or octagonal table with a betting line. Has anyone else?

 

[Seeking Alpha Social Club]

The only thing I have against round or octagonal tables is that IMO players tend to splash the pot more on them. Not a biggie, though -- one threat of ritual disembowelment usually takes care of that.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever seen a round or octagonal table with a betting line. Has anyone else?

It's funny you should say that because this definitely happens more on my octagon tables than on an oval.

I have not seen a betting line on a round or octagon, but just may have to have a custom felt made with a betting line. Excellent idea (y) :thumbsup:

 

[BGinGA]

I think Tommy's Broken Bell table may have one.... or maybe it's just implied by the logo circle. Seems like I've seen a couple of others with similar features, but can't place 'em right now.

 

[T_Chan]

54" octagon.

 

[mummel]

Thats a nice looking table, even if its an octagon

 

[72o]

@T_Chan
Any chance you have an extra one of these felts lying around collecting dust? Better yet, with all the give-aways around here lately, we've been pretty spoiled so...when is the great table give-away of 2017.

Still my favorite setup:

 

[upNdown]

@T_Chan
Any chance you have an extra one of these felts lying around collecting dust? Better yet, with all the give-aways around here lately, we've been pretty spoiled so...when is the great table give-away of 2017.

Still my favorite setup:
View attachment 75128

Give-away might be a crazy idea, but with all the chip raffles that go one here, how about a table raffle @T_Chan ?

 

[T_Chan]

Though I don't have one of those laying around, a table giveaway would be pretty epic... Lets see what 2017 presents to me and I'll figure out if it's plausible with some sort of contest or promotion.

That table is certainly still one of my favorites. It was built in 2011 and just a few months ago I bumped into the customer who bought it at my booth at a home show. He said he's still very happy with it and continues to get compliments on it regularly.

 

[mummel]

Table raffle?

 

[72o]

Though I don't have one of those laying around, a table giveaway would be pretty epic... Lets see what 2017 presents to me and I'll figure out if it's plausible with some sort of contest or promotion.

That table is certainly still one of my favorites. It was built in 2011 and just a few months ago I bumped into the customer who bought it at my booth at a home show. He said he's still very happy with it and continues to get compliments on it regularly.

Hey Tony...I was totally kidding of course. I hope it didn't come off like I was putting you on the spot or anything.