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The deadline came and went on Wednesday without the Texas authorities filing any criminal charges against The Lodge Card Club. However, the state didn’t return the $2 million-plus it seized during a March 10 raid.
Civil asset forfeiture is one of the more controversial tools in U.S. law enforcement. The government can take property, keep it indefinitely, and force citizens to fight an uphill legal battle to reclaim it without ever proving they committed a crime.
The Lodge Card Club is a poker room in the Austin area co-owned by YouTube poker personalities Brad Owen and Doug Polk. It opened in 2018 and became the largest poker room in Texas, with almost 70 tables at the Round Rock location. The YouTubers took a stake in 2022, alongside fellow poker content creator Andrew Neeme. Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau and Nik Airball made investments of their own at a later stage.
The club ran through a membership model, which meant it collected fees from players and didn’t rake pots, which many Texas operators believe complies with state law.
Texas gambling law allows gambling in a “private place” where “no person receives any economic benefit other than personal winnings.” Membership clubs argue that they meet this definition, and dozens of similar rooms currently operate across the state.
Then, on March 10, agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, accompanied by an IRS agent, served a search and seizure warrant at The Lodge’s Round Rock location. The warrant cited suspicions of money laundering, organized crime, and illegal gambling. The club remains closed.
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Charges Not Filed, But Money Remains Seized in Texas Poker Raid
Texas law gives law enforcement 30 days to file a civil asset forfeiture case in district court after seizing property or return it to the owner.
The timer ran out on April 9, as Polk explained in a video. However, the state proceeded to file a civil forfeiture claim in Williamson County and dropped the most serious allegations when doing so.
PokerNews obtained documents showing that the state no longer pursues money laundering charges and now bases its claim on alleged illegal gambling. That means the stakes for the club’s owners fell from allegations of running a criminal enterprise and committing serious money laundering to a Class A misdemeanor of illegal gambling.
Civil Asset Forfeiture: A Controversial Legal Ground
However, the state continues to hold the $2 million. Critics have argued for decades that civil asset forfeiture is fundamentally unjust.
In Texas, the state only needs probable cause to seize property, so it does not need to prove a crime occurred. Unlike a criminal trial, where the state must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, civil forfeiture places the burden on the defendant to prove innocence. If the state never files criminal charges, no court decides guilt or innocence, which means the money remains tied up.
It’s not known whether The Lodge could reopen without the money, which presumably makes up most of its operating capital. Employees were also all laid off in the aftermath of the raid.
It remains unclear whether the Williamson County district attorney intends to pursue criminal charges.
Civil asset forfeiture in the U.S. has long drawn bipartisan criticism. The Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning legal nonprofit, has documented hundreds of cases where law enforcement seized cash, cars, and property from people who were never charged with a crime. The practice disproportionately impacts people who cannot afford prolonged legal battles against the government.
A business like The Lodge, which depends on daily operations to generate revenue, can suffer permanent damage even after a temporary seizure. The underlying legal question of whether Texas’s membership-based poker clubs operate lawfully under Penal Code 47.04 remains unsettled.
“So basically, the state has filed for the money,” Polk said in a recent video. “However, it is unclear what is going to happen with the case proceedings. While we were hoping to have more information to share with you, unfortunately, we do not at this juncture.”
What Happens Next for The Lodge
While The Lodge’s San Antonio location remains open, the future of the Austin poker room remains uncertain. The owners could challenge the civil forfeiture directly, arguing that the state lacks probable cause or that the funds did not derive from illegal activity.
They could also contend that the membership model complies with Texas law and that no underlying crime occurred. If they win, the case could set a precedent that protects the entire Texas poker club industry.
However, litigation takes time and money, so for now, The Lodge in Austin remains closed and could go out of business indefinitely, all while the state avoids proving its case in court.
