{"id":109062,"date":"2026-04-29T09:47:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/texas-poker-room-the-lodge-set-to-reopen-after-grand-jury-clears-doug-polk-of-gambling-charges\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T09:47:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:47:38","slug":"texas-poker-room-the-lodge-set-to-reopen-after-grand-jury-clears-doug-polk-of-gambling-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/texas-poker-room-the-lodge-set-to-reopen-after-grand-jury-clears-doug-polk-of-gambling-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Poker Room The Lodge Set to Reopen After Grand Jury Clears Doug Polk of Gambling Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"post-content__sub-title\">\n        Posted on: April 28, 2026, 06:06h.\u00a0\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"post-content__sub-title\">\n        Last updated on: April 28, 2026, 06:15h.\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"post-info-panel\">\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-holder js-open-close\">\n<div class=\"post-info-panel__author-logo\">\n                <img alt=\"Avatar photo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-50x50.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-100x100.png 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-50 photo\" height=\"50\" width=\"50\" decoding=\"async\"\/>            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Grand jury rejects charges, clearing The Lodge Card Club owners<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Doug Polk says club will reopen after assets returned<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Case highlights legal gray area around Texas poker clubs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Texas\u2019s biggest cardroom, The Lodge Card Club, is back from the dead. Poker pro and co-owner of the Austin-area card room, Doug Polk, announced on social media Tuesday that a Williamson County grand jury had rejected proposed charges of illegal gambling against him, his partners, and The Lodge.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_379413\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-379413\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-379413\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lodge-858x573.jpg\" alt=\"Texas poker, The Lodge Card Club, Doug Polk, Texas gambling law, poker room raid\" width=\"858\" height=\"573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lodge-858x573.jpg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lodge-430x287.jpg 430w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lodge-238x158.jpg 238w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Lodge.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-379413\" class=\"text-description\">Players could soon be back at the tables as The Lodge eyes reopening following a grand jury decision Tuesday. (Image: The Lodge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Polk said the club\u2019s seized money and equipment would be returned and that management hoped to reopen \u201cwithin a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJustice has prevailed,\u201d he added. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a remarkable reversal for a business that only a month ago <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-largest-poker-room-shutdown-likely-permanent-after-illegal-gambling-raid\/\">appeared to have shut for good<\/a> when employees were laid off via email.<\/p>\n<p>Co-owner Jason Levin told workers the club would have to close \u201cfor the foreseeable future\u201d because \u201cWilliamson County District Attorney\u2019s Office has made clear to our attorneys that they believe The Lodge\u2019s current business model does not comply with Texas law.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Club Raided<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/money-laundering-illegal-gambling-probe-behind-raid-on-austins-the-lodge-card-club\/\">The club was raided<\/a> March 10 by agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission\u2019s Financial Crimes Unit (TABC). The agency said the search-and-seizure warrant was connected to an investigation into suspected illegal gambling and money laundering. Players inside the club said they were told to leave with their chips rather than cash them out.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>No criminal charges were filed in the immediate aftermath, though an April 8 filing in Williamson County\u2019s 480th Judicial District Court allowed the state to continue holding more than $2 million in assets while it pursued a civil forfeiture case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The filing suggested prosecutors were no longer pursuing money-laundering allegations against the Lodge and were focused instead on whether its poker operation violated Texas gambling law.<\/p>\n<p>Poker rooms in the state generally operate as private membership clubs. They do not take a rake from pots but instead charge players membership or seat fees. They argue this model fits within Texas Penal Code defenses for private gambling, which require that play occurs in a private place, that no one receives an economic benefit beyond personal winnings, and that all players face the same risks apart from skill or luck.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Witch Hunt\u2019 Allegation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>TABC\u2019s search and seizure warrant argued the clubs\u2019 owners were gaining an economic benefit by \u201ccharging membership fees and seat fees for individuals to gamble\u201d and by \u201cselling food, beverages, alcoholic drinks, merchandise, streaming poker play, and hosting poker tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s no different than clubs elsewhere in Texas, which have not been targeted by authorities \u2013 at least, not yet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>Polk has consistently denied wrongdoing. After the raid, he described the case as a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d He also publicly assured players who had been present during the raid that their funds were safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The legality of the private poker-club model in the state may ultimately be decided by the Texas Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-poker-room-the-lodge-set-to-reopen-after-grand-jury-clears-doug-polk-of-gambling-charges\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted on: April 28, 2026, 06:06h.\u00a0 Last updated on: April 28, 2026, 06:15h. Grand jury rejects charges, clearing The Lodge Card Club owners Doug Polk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gambling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}