How do I make the racetrack flush with the center/felt insert?
This is the question I get most often. There are threads in this forum on this very subject (just look around). I would say several things about this: First, I don’t think having it flush is really that important. Most of you want to be able to “push” your chips in whenever you go all-in. While that is always fun, you should realize that all-ins like this don’t happen that often (certainly not every hand). What does happen every hand is people scooping pots toward them. Having the 1/4″ rise in the center actually helps this process because the chips easily slide from the center to the racetrack. If the area is flush, you may have chips get caught on the lip of the ractrack. In other words, it’s got its pros and cons. Also, I’ve played a lot of games on my table (with people who aren’t familiar with this forum or the building process), and I’ve never received one comment about the fact that they have to place their chips in the middle when going all-in. I don’t think people notice that
