Texas’ Largest Poker Room Shutdown Likely Permanent After ‘Illegal Gambling’ Raid

• Texas poker giant The Lodge shuts down after state raid
  
• Investigation targets alleged illegal gambling and money laundering activity
  
• Closure highlights legal gray area facing Texas card clubs

Two weeks after authorities raided Texas’ largest poker room, Austin’s The Lodge Card Club, the venue appears to have shut for good. Employees were laid off via an email from co-owner Jason Levin on Tuesday, who explained the club needed close its doors “for the foreseeable future.”

Agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s (TABC) Financial Crimes Unit executed a search and seizure warrant at the club on March 10. Players at the popular cardroom, which also counts poker star Doug Polk among its owners, reported that they were told to take their chips home with them without cashing out.

‘Witch Hunt’

TABC issued a statement saying the raid had been conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal gambling and money laundering. To date, no arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed. Polk later branded the investigation “a witch hunt” on social media.

[…W]e maintain that the club has always operated with the utmost integrity and within the laws of Texas, the Williamson County District Attorney’s office has made clear to our attorneys that they believe The Lodge’s current business model does not comply with Texas law,” Levin wrote in his email to staff.

“For this reason, we cannot re-open. Doing so would run the risk that authorities might once again raid The Lodge, seize more cash and assets, and potentially make arrests.”

Levin added that he had been given no indication as to when the investigation might end.

Risky Business

Opening a card club in Texas was always going to be a risk. Most types of gambling are illegal in the state and card rooms operate through what might be described as a “loophole” in Chapter 47 of the Texas Penal Code.

The statute states that “it is a defense to prosecution” if “the actor engaged in gambling in a private place [which includes a club]; no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; [and] except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all.”

It appears that the Williamson County DA’s Office does not agree with this interpretation of the law. The club’s closure demonstrates that the line between a legal game and an illegal one is still thin in Texas, and it may be getting thinner.