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An email sent to club members gives an update on the current status, with limited explanations, as to what is going on with The Lodge Card Club, a Texas poker room that remains closed two days following a road.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) conducted a raid of the largest card room in the Lone Star State on Tuesday morning. It remains unclear why TABC officials entered the facility, and it appears from the email that the owners of The Lodge are a bit confused about why they are being targeted.
“Our attorneys are working to understand the reasons behind the search but at this time, the situation has not been explained to us,” the statement read.
“This is obviously upsetting, and until this situation is fully understood, The Lodge Card Club is closed,” the email continued.
The Lodge Card Club in the Austin area, co-owned by Doug Polk, added an attached but separate restaurant and bar to the poker room in 2024. Some poker players on social media discovered the card room’s liquor license had expired in 2024, and that was accurate. But the parent company, Sleamond’s Ice, LLC, applied for and was granted a new license covering both the restaurant and the poker club simultaneously. Records obtained by the TABC show the business has an active Mixed Beverage Permit, which is set to expire on Aug. 8, 2026.
The email did not provide players with a timeline for when, or if, the poker club will reopen. PokerNews confirmed no staff members or players were arrested in the search. We have also reached out to the TABC multiple times for comment but still have not received a response.
The TABC search, which did not involve local police, took place hours after the completion of the Lodge Championship Series Main Event. While that big tournament reached its conclusion before the closure, a special World Poker Tour (WPT) event had been scheduled to begin March 13 and is now postponed.
Texas Poker Room’s Growth
Polk, along with Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen, teamed up to purchase a share of The Lodge Card Club in January 2022. The poker room has undergone a recent renovation and added its own restaurant and bar in the attached unit last year.
Many of the biggest cash games and tournaments in Texas have been hosted at The Lodge since the high-profile ownership team took over, which now also includes Nik Airball and Ethan “Rampage” Yau, two high-stakes regulars on Hustler Casino Live.
Polk, who resides in Austin, is the card room’s biggest ambassador. His affiliation with the club has led to increased viewership on the Poker at the Lodge livestream, which he often competes on, and overall turnout in cash games and tournaments.
But the poker room, a direct competitor to Texas Card House, is now facing some legal issues. It remains to be seen what type of effect that will have on business.
