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Over the weekend, poker pro and industry analyst Todd Witteles summarized the warrant for search and seizure of The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, TX after obtaining a copy in recent days.
As a quick refresher, The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) conducted a raid on the business on Tuesday March 10. The poker room was shuttered - at least temporarily - that morning. It has since come to light that the probe involves alleged money laundering whereas internet sleuths early on suggested this may have had to do with the establishment failing to renew its liquor license. We now know this goes much deeper. In fact, we have since learned that the alcohol license was still active at the time of the raid.
In addition to high profile poker pro and podcaster Doug Polk, The Lodge is co-owned by Jake Abdalla, and Jason Levin.
The Ownership Structure
"I am very familiar with Polk and Abdalla, but I do not personally know either of them well," Witteles wrote on his X account. "I had never heard of Levin. The three of them collectively own 63.3% of The Lodge, and presumably are the decision makers in the company."
He points out that there are at least 18 other "minor" owners.
"These people all own "less than 7%" each, meaning they could own anywhere from 0.01% to 6.99% of the company. There are six names among those minor owners you might recognize from poker -- Brad Owen, Andrew Neeme, Ryan Fee, Nick Petrangelo, Jamie Kerstetter, and Thomas Keeling. The other 12 people are not known to the general poker and gambling communities, and would not be familiar to you. It does not appear that any of the minor owners are accused of any wrongdoing, and I assume they are mostly silent partners.
"It appears to me that Owen and Neeme were mostly figureheads for marketing purposes, and the real power laid in the hands of Polk (who was also the main face of the room), Abdalla, and Levin.
"In my opinion , there's nothing wrong with this, and is a similar situation to how Magic Johnson is portrayed as much more major of an owner of the Dodgers than he really is, simply due to his existing sports fame."
The Seizures
The warrant orders seizure of all bank accounts at a specific bank in Nevada, for any accounts registered to Tempus Holdings (a company said to be associated with The Lodge). Not all of the bank accounts associated with The Lodge were seized, just those held at this Nevada bank. It is also noted that the bank does not have branches in Texas.
"It is important to understand that they did NOT seize all of the bank accounts belonging to Abdalla/Levin/Polk, but were only targeting the ones at that specific bank.
"The warrant orders that the seized funds will be turned over to the Williamson County, TX district attorney, who will then begin "forfeiture proceedings".
"It is my opinion that, despite the scary language of "forfeiture proceedings", there is a good chance that the state will allow players holding chips (or uncollected tournament cashes) to be paid out from that money, though the warrant does not directly say or imply this."
$1,350,000 had been deposited into the Nevada bank account during the first two months of the investigation.
A "Snitch" May Have Kicked Off Probe
"The warrant notes that a "public complaint" was filed on April 3, 2024, alleging that the business was hosting real money gambling while holding an On-Premise alcohol permit, which according to a 2005 opinion by then-AG Greg Abbott, was illegal. This is interesting, because 4/3/24 was the earliest date mentioned, so presumably this entire investigation was kicked off by a snitch. Sad!"
The investigation was taking place over a two year period. The warrant suggests the facility had limited security.
License plates of cars in the parking lot were even run to determine that "some of the vehicles were registered to poker players listed as winners of poker tournaments at The Lodge on social media".
Doubts There Was Money Laundering Taking Place
Witteles writes that "money laundering" and "organized criminal activity" are being very broadly applied to simply mean, "These three guys were running a normal poker room, and profiting from it, which we feel is against the law in Texas."
He says that the alleged crimes may have been overstated.
"In short, it does not appear that The Lodge, Polk, Abdalla, Levin, or anyone else at The Lodge was doing anything wrong or unethical, aside from running a poker room in a state where the legality was always questionable."
Future of The Lodge
Witteles offered an optimistic take that members should be made whole as only $720,994 had been seized. This represents a small fraction of what the card room takes in.
"The good news is that this isn't a huge sum of money, meaning that even if The Lodge never receives this money back, it is highly likely that the business itself (or its operators Polk, Abdalalla, and Levin) can and will make good on it.
"It should be noted that Polk has already twice pledged to make players whole if The Lodge cannot payout for whatever reason, which is commendable."
Polk, however, has been called out for publicizing the financial burden this shutdown is placing on The Lodge staff but has done little, if anything, to step in to assist.
Players reported at the time of the raid that they were forced to show ID when leaving, and told to take their chips home. They were instructed to "bring your chips back when the business reopens".
Witteles sees this as an indication that investigators believe there is a chance the business could reopen at a later date, though this could be an overly optimistic take on his part.
He adds: "It is possible that The Lodge will lose its business license. It's even more possible that they will never be allowed any kind of alcoholic beverage license ever again.
"It is also possible that the ownership will deem reopening too risky, even if possible, because lightning already struck once there."
This is a Federal Matter, Not Just a State Concern
One crucial aspect of the warrant notes the IRS involvement.
The IRS angle is important in that it suggests potential federal financial scrutiny, not just state gambling issues. Prior actions against Texas-based card rooms were conducted exclusively by state authorities.
Previous raids of poker clubs in the state involved the legal grey area of businesses operating within the “Membership fee” model. The Lodge Card Club probe adds the alleged money laundering element, which can trigger harsher felony crimes if proven. Thus far there have been no charges or arrests in this matter.
With a prolonged investigation as we have here, this could signal that agents have compiled extensive recorded transactions and first-hand evidence of how the establishment operates.
Just days after the raid, Polk announced the birth of his daughter, Georgia Ann Polk.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
