Turn an IKEA Jokkmokk Dining Table Into a Hidden Poker or Gaming Table

My partner and I recently bought a house and I immediately realised I could finally make one of my dream projects a reality! I play poker semi regularly with my friends and while we usually just bring a felt tablecloth and a poker set around to each other's houses, I wanted to go that little bit further and make a dedicated poker table.

Unfortunately, we don't have the space for a larger separate table with bells and whistles like a card shuffler or cup holders in addition to a regular dining table so I thought why don't I simply combine the two?

My main two stipulations were as follows:

1) The playing surface has to have an arm rest (or sometimes called a rail) around the inner border.

2) The dining table top has to be easily removable for when I want to play cards on it and easy to put back when finished.

Luckily, with the Jokkmokk dining table (and many similarly built ones) I can easily attach a new surface underneath the existing one, add the wood beams for the arm rest and still have the existing tabletop placed on top of it as it'll be used as a dining table 95% of the time.

This has been a hit with my home poker games and of course it can be used to play any other card game as well.

Materials

1 x IKEA Jokkmokk dining table (any size you wish)

47mm x 75mm Timber (also known as 3x2): Quantity depends on size of your table, I used 2 x 2.4m long boards.

Suited Speed Cloth: Make sure this is wider than all the edges of your playing surface so you can staple it to the underside.

18mm plywood or MDF: I used 25mm plywood which did the trick but is absolutely overkill so I'd recommend using 18mm instead. Be sure to measure this according to the inside perimeter of your table with the top removed.

6mm foam: I used an old yoga mat I had lying around the house, you can even go thicker than 6mm if you wish.

10mm Dowel rod

12mm Skirting board 2.4m (L) x 94mm (W)

LED strips (optional) purchase a reel that is longer than the inner diameter of the table.

LED aluminium profile/channel (optional) Purchase as many as it takes to fit in the inner diameter of the table.

USB inline switch (optional) This is to switch the lights on and off.

Tools/Consumables

Staple gun

Circular Saw (or table saw if you have one)

Jigsaw

Drill

Impact Driver

Stanley knife

Mitre Saw: I had to use a handsaw but I would strongly advise using a mitre saw instead.

Wood Glue

Spray adhesive

Wood screws

M6 bolts x 10

M6 washers x 10

M6 Threaded Insert for Wood x 10

Paste wax (I used beeswax in this case)

Wood finish (entirely up to you what kind)

Like most IKEA furniture, it's easy to assemble which means it is also easy to disassemble. I flipped the table over and removed the screws that held the top to the frame.

I got a 10mm wood drill bit and hollowed out the existing holes that held the screws cutting into the tabletop just enough for a dowel to fit (I'll cover this later on in the guide)

Unfortunately, Jokkmokk tables (and many others of a similar design) have these annoying corner brackets that interfere with the entire board and this leaves two options.

1) Remove the corner brackets and screw the frame together using pocket screws

2) Leave them in but cut a 45 degree angle off the corners of the playing surface to accommodate them.

I didn't want to waste any precious time by practically rebuilding the table frame so I just chose option 2 because time was not on my side and all I'd have to do is lop off the corners using a jigsaw to accommodate the brackets.

Setting aside the tabletop, I had to measure the inside perimeter of the table frame so that I could cut my plywood down to fit inside the frame.

I used a circular saw to cut down this sheet of plywood to 110 x 66cm with a 2mm gap on all sides to accommodate the Suited Speed Cloth as it would be troublesome to fit without it. I also used this opportunity to cut off the corners to accommodate the corner brackets using a jigsaw.

Now that the playing surface is cut, I wanted to focus next on the arm rests.

I used some 2x3 timber that I cut to size using my mitre saw (again leaving a gap for the corner brackets but these will be concealed later) and attached to the inside perimeter of the table using clamps then added wood screws from the outside of the frame to reinforce it. The timber will rest on the playing surface so strength isn't a massive issue at this stage.

I had to take my time with this section as I had to be sure the timber was flush with the frame otherwise after a few hands everyone will have sore arms but also the skirting board cover won't sit well on it (more on this later)

I had an old yoga mat lying around that I wasn't using and it was the perfect thickness for this purpose. Using a spare cutoff bit of 2x3 timber I marked around the edges the same width of the arm rest then cut the foam to fit the rectangle I marked. The foam is cut this way so that it will only reach up to the arm rests and not interfere with them.

Then using some spray adhesive I covered the playing surface with the foam and held it in place for a few seconds for the adhesive to take hold. Forgot to take pictures of this part, but it is very self explanatory.

Once done I placed the speed cloth flat on my coffee table then placed the playing surface foam side down on top of it (make sure you align the suited cloth so the suits aren't at a slight angle) then I stapled the cloth to the board pulling it tightly as I go.

Here is where things got a little bit messy. I flipped the table frame upside down and placed it on my coffee table ready for the playing surface to be dropped in. It was a little bit tight so required a bit of a shove to get it in but it did manage to fit nice and snug. I didn't get pictures of this bit, I do apologise but it's quite self explanatory.

Using wood screws alone for this wasn't an option for me as I do often worry that when I need to take the surface out to replace the cloth the screw holes will become weaker every time this is done. I instead opted to use long M6 bolts with threaded inserts, so I drilled a hole that was the same width of the bolt through the side and the playing surface then slightly widened the initial part of the hole so that the threaded inserts would fit. I installed all the threaded inserts then using my impact driver I secured the playing surface to the main table.

Unfortunately this does mean there's lots of visible screws etc around the frame of the table (PICTURED) this doesn't particularly bother me much as it's not exactly an ornate piece of furniture but in the future I may decide to use some thin architrave to cover these (attaching them with Velcro so that I can remove them easily)

I decided to do an even/odd combination of dowels so that the table can only be attached one way in order to prevent it being set up wrong so I put one dowel on one of the long sides and two on the other. I cut some dowels oversized in length so I can trim them down later but also to make sure they're all aligned with the tabletop holes correctly.

I covered the ends of the dowels with some wood glue then I placed the dowels in the holes. I didn't want to mistakenly glue the tabletop to the frame so I got some pieces of scrap wood and wedged them between the tabletop and the frame so that the dowels are in the holes and that the glue can dry without touching the tabletop.

While I was at this stage I used the remaining dowels to fill in all the remaining dowel holes so that there's no confusion about which dowel goes where.

Once the glue was dried overnight I trimmed the ends of the dowels to about 20mm using a Stanley knife so that they can hold the top in place but can also be lifted off easier. I also covered the dowels in beeswax to make sure they can slide in and out very easily.

This construction unfortunately left the corners exposed and the timber colour is a sharp contrast different to the rest of the table. I was itching to play poker so I arranged for my friends to come over for a test game. The corners and the bare armrests are unsightly but it functioned perfectly as it should so I was very happy with it! This step is optional but strongly suggested.

As said in the previous step, this construction unfortunately left the corners exposed and the timber colour is a sharp contrast different to the rest of the table so I decided to get some smooth and rounded skirting board that will fit over the top of the arm rests and give a much neater and cleaner look. It does raise the table by 12mm but nobody will notice I can guarantee that.

On the skirting I cut some rather rough mitred corners and dry-fitted them onto the arm rests carefully lining them up as best I could so that it all fit perfectly. I temporarily held 3 out of the 4 sides with some clamps then gradually secured each board onto the table with some glue and nails then left it for the night.

I was unable to use my mitre saw at the time as it was raining for several weeks so I had to use a handsaw and a bit of patience. The mitres turned out ok, better than I hoped but they still needed some TLC so I got some wood filler and covered all the nail holes and the gaps in the corner mitres then let it all dry overnight.

After letting the wood filler dry overnight it was time to give the whole border a thorough sanding. I started with 40 grit sandpaper to quickly get the excess wood filler off then moved onto 80 grit to get all the surfaces and filler even, then moved onto 150 grit followed by 220 grit until it all looked even and was smooth to the touch.

To prepare for the finish, I removed all the excess sawdust by wiping the border down using a microfibre cloth then wiped it down again using white spirit then left it to dry for half an hour.

With the major sanding out of the way it was now time for the finish. I had to be super careful not to get any of the finish onto the cloth playing surface, which is why I would advise doing this before attaching the playing surface to the table frame!

Since I forgot didn't have time to do this, I simply just taped a large piece of cardboard to the playing surface and got on with it.

I used a stain and varnish combination, applying 6 coats with a light sanding in between using 220 grit sandpaper. This seems like a lot of coats but I had to keep adding them otherwise the border wouldn't match the rest of the table. I was quite pleased with the final result.

I love LED strips so I decided to add them. These are completely optional so you can skip this step if you don't want LED strips but if you do I would recommend using LED aluminium channels for the following reasons...

• They're easy to mount as they come with clips that you just screw into the surface you're mounting them on. Double sided tape can also work.
• The LED strips always stick to them and never come undone.
• The aluminium channel acts as a heatsink so the LEDs are kept cool and will extend the life of them.
• They diffuse the lights so they look smoother rather than a series of dots.

The corners were nice and close together so I didn't need to cut and re-join the strips using wire and solder, I just ran the strip all around the inner border inside the aluminium channels then I dropped the USB cable down one of the corners so that I could connect it to a power source.

I had a USB power bank that I simply wasn't using, so I thought this would be a perfect use for it. The LED strips are rated for 5V USB so I put in a pair of cable tie mounts (with a screw) and just attached the power bank to the table with some reusable cable ties. A bonus of using a power bank is that you won't have a cable trailing on the floor to plug into the mains.

To turn the lights on, I used an inline USB switch between the power bank and the LED strip. I secured it under the table using some cable tie mounts, though you can do a better job at neatening them up than I did.

Once done, you can place the tabletop back on the table.

Now you can take a step back and admire your work. If you want to play cards or a board game? Just clear the table and pop off the top then you have a perfect playing surface!

My photography skills aren't the greatest but this should give you a rough idea of how it looks! You can leave this as is when you're finished playing and simply pop the top back on.

Only one thing to do once you've built something like this, get your mates over and play some cards! Dan here is smiling because he won that night, the bastard.