button in SafariLodge Card Club Grand Reopening Date Set Following Poker Room Raid
The Lodge Card Club in Texas, closed down since March 10 due to legal issues, is just days away from reopening.
A social media post revealed the long-anticipated date for reopening as May 26 at the largest card room in the Lone Star State. The lights will come back on starting at 9 a.m. on that day, and the Austin area poker club will welcome players back with a grand reopening, which includes cash games and tournaments.
Return of a Major Texs Poker Room
The poker room, which boasts nearly 70 card tables and an attached restaurant, was raided more than two months ago by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) on suspicion of illegal gambling, organized crime, and money laundering. Assets were seized, including cash, leaving the poker club unable to continue operations.
Doug Polk, Jake Abdalla, and Jason Levin, the three top shareholders, were at the center of the investigation. But on April 28, a Grand Jury voted against indictment, ensuring charges wouldn't be filed and forcing the TABC to return the seized assets.
That paved way for The Lodge Card Club, which also operates a sister card room in San Antonio, to reopen. There was still some work to be done in preparation for reopening, including hiring back employees that were laid off following the raid. The poker club has now finally settled on a reopening date of May 26, which just so happens to also be the first day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.
The first tournament following the reopening will be at 10:15 a.m., a $50 no-limit hold'em turbo event. Two additional low-stakes tournaments are scheduled for The Lodge's first day in operation since March 10.
There's a full slate of tournaments listed on PokerAtlas in the days following The Lodge's return to action.
The Lodge also announced the attached Odds Bar & Bistro is being replaced with the new Frank & Margie's restaurant, a "chef-driven Italian American menu designed to draw the broader Round Rock dining community." May 16 is the opening date for the new restaurant that will be accessible to players at The Lodge.
PokerNews was informed by The Lodge Card Club that the card room's popular livestream, Poker at the Lodge, is expected to also return on May 26, although that date isn't official. Poker at the Lodge is one of the most viewed livestreams in poker, with 239,000 YouTube subscribers.
"The day of the raid the entire Lodge community including employees, members, and livestream viewers were dealt an emotional blow. 2.5 months later we will reopen our doors and also get back to producing our award-winning livestream. It has been a tough spring but we are all looking forward to continuing the amazing 8-plus year story of The Lodge Card Club," Slick Rick, lead commentator and Head of Sales at The Lodge Card Club, said.
