What is the purpose of the first row?
<tr>
<td>
</td><td> </td>
<td>
</td></tr>
This is what is creating the added whitespace....
http://postimg.org/image/dxx64pu4n/
If you are using this row to try and create a space, create a class in your css with the exact height you want it to space, the give the tr that class, or if its not needed, just delete it?