The Lodge Card Club was raided by the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission (TABC) on Tuesday morning, just 16 hours after the end of their famous Lodge Championship Series Main Event. Doug Polk has since called the investigation a “witch hunt”.
Doug Polk’s personal guarantee
Polk, co-owner of The Lodge (along with Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen), got into a heated discussion with Tom Dwan on Twitter/X when providing an update on the status of The Lodge Card Club raid.
During the spat, Polk “personally guaranteed” that all player funds at The Lodge Card Club would be safe.
Initially, Polk said he would release more information within the next 24 hours about the status of The Lodge raids. That’s when things started to get ugly.
In response to the above tweet, Tom Dwan responded out of nowhere with a cheeky anecdote about Polk’s incredibly popular YouTube channel, which Polk did not find amusing.
“You made a lot of your brand out of going after people in times like this. I hope you can take a minute to reflect and realize the negatives of some of those choices.
“Hope you do stuff like that less in the future.”
Polk then wrote that he has “personally guaranteed that all player funds will be safe as this witch hunt from TABC plays out.”
He also sent a direct message to Tom Dwan, claiming he allegedly owes tens of millions, and told him to “shut the f*** up.”
Dwan denies debts, addresses cheating claims
Dwan denied owing money and claims Polk is well aware that he doesn’t owe anything. Dwan also claimed that he told Polk about potential cheating at The Lodge Card Club.
“I also told you about a type of cheating the lodge made very easy years ago. I asked you to address it.
“It’s odd that you didn’t. You often choose what looks good or PR over what’s right.”
Dwan also accused ClubWPT Gold, who sponsors Polk, of engaging in money laundering in the United States. Though Dwan asked Polk who owns the site, Polk has yet to comment.
While Polk has yet to comment on many of Dwan’s tweets, Polk has challenged Dwan to a heads-up match on ClubWPT Gold as part of a challenge he issued in February. Dwan has yet to accept or reject the offer, though he has told Polk the challenge itself wasn’t smart.
WPT festival postponed
The Lodge Card Club was set to host Lodge Wildcard: Wacky Weekend of Poker, marking the second time in a week that the World Poker Tour has had to postpone an event. WPT Prime Cyprus was postponed due to the war in the Middle East.
In an official statement on Twitter/X, WPT confirmed the postponement.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced that The Lodge Wildcard: Wacky Weekend of Poker, scheduled for March 13-15, has been postponed. The decision was made due to circumstances outside of WPT’s control that impace event operations.
“We recognize that many players had planned to attend and appreciate their understanding. Updated dates and additional details will be announced once finalized.”
The WPT Wildcard event gained a lot of notoriety for its $300 Mystery Bounty Chaos tournament last year, with bounties containing a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat along with tournament advantages and penalties. For example, one player advanced directly to the final table, while another swapped stacks with the biggest stack in the room. Another “won” a one-orbit penalty.
This year’s Wacky Weekend of Poker was set to include five tournaments, including a Double Board Bomb Pot event, a Deuces Wild, and the aforementioned Mystery Bounty. All events had modest price points between $120 and $300.
