The Lodge Card Club Survives Grand Jury Verdict as Polk Promises Poker Comeback

When the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) raided the Lodge Card Club on March10, their measures were heavy-handed. Closing The Lodge with immediate effect, a full-scale investigation cost the popular Austin cardroom not only its clientele in the middle of a big tournament but its staff, with Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen among the co-owners forced to lay off their own team. Now a Grand Jury ruling has cleared The Lodge of any charges.

Doug Polk Celebrates Landmark Moment

“You gotta know when to hold’em!”

After the Grand Jury in Williamson County delivered their verdict, the feeling was one of relief. For two months, co-owners Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen were not only put through the financial wringer, losing $1.3m as seized assets but an emotional rollercoaster too, with the trio forced to lay off staff members who didn’t know when they might be likely to come back to work.

Upon hearing the verdict, Polk took to X to let his followers and fellow Texas-based poker players know the good news.

“All charges against myself, my partners, and the Lodge have been officially rejected,” he write. “The seized money and equipment will be returned and we will reopen as quickly as possible, hopefully within a few weeks. The Grand Jury in Williamson County heard the allegations against us, and refused to authorize proposed charges. Justice has prevailed. The damage to our staff and members has been tremendous, and it is now time to rebuild. We will be putting together a kickoff event in the near future. In the words of a great man: ‘You gotta know when to hold’em’”.

With those $1.3m in assets seized back in early March, the release of those funds will be important, as it will help fund the club’s relaunch. Polk had, if you recall, promised to pay players or staff out of hisown pocket if the club were found of any wrongdoing, such was his confidence that he and The Lodge had remained within Texas poker laws.

Tournaments and Cash Games to Return

When Doug Polk did a comedic walkthrough of The Lodge back in early Spring, no-one could have predicted that the TABC would be virtually the next visitors in order to raid the club and shut down all poker operations. With accusations of money laundering and illegal gambling hanging over the establishment back in March, the rapid growth of The Lodge was threatened. As has now been proven, that threat from the TABC was utterly baseless and The Lodge’s reputation has never been stronger.

With dozens of busy cash game tables and tournaments which had guarantees that were getting bigger and bigger, The Lodge will need to pick up momentum now it is being relaunched, but Polk has promised a big event to kick off the action and players and fans will be delighted to see that come to fruition.

One small obstacle Polk and the team have is re-hiring the staff members they were forced to release seven weeks ago. With an indefinite suspension of operations at the time, many staff will have had to find alternate employment in order to sustain themselves in the intervening period. Whilst Polk pledged to support those forced to leave as well as players who had money held in funds, that offer is unlikely to be called upon now that both money and the opportunity to welcome poker players is being restored.

How Long Will Re-Opening Take?

The logistics of returning to action from an enforced standing start are many and varied for The Lodge. While the $1.3m in seized assets being returned may not be completely necessary – messrs Polk, Neeme and Owen likely having the capital to bankroll a return before that money is returned to the club – re-hiring staff is not an easy matter to solve.

The Lodge certainly believed that they would be in this position eventually.

“In true Lodge fashion, we knew we were holding a strong hand, one built on integrity, discipline, and doing things the right way.” They wrote in a statement on the situation on X . With up to 200 staff members back in March, what percentage of those would be able to immediately resume their roles is as yet unknown. The unfairness of the TABC’s raid forcing honest casino employees to search for alternate work, impacting on ordinary people’s lives, was never lost on Polk.

Yesterday’s ruling not only means that The Lodge Card Club will get a re-opening but a redemption arc. With the case against them completely dismissed, the comeback is sure to be special, with many big names already pledging to be there to show their support. After two months in the legal minefield of appealing to a Grand Jury and hiring lawyers, Doug Polk and the other professionals who have built The Lodge into the venue it became have the chance to do it all over again, this time without the threat of unfounded charges being brought against them.

The Lodge Card Club is back.