Lodge Card Club Raided / Grand Jury does not indict any Lodge employees
Came looking for some info on this, but I guess I will kick the thread off. Anyone there at the time or know more detail
Is Good Guy Doug offering severance packages for the staff? Can anyone confirm or deny?
If the employees get whatever the law DEMANDS doug et al. will be fine. no one cares about poker dealers and janitors when they decide where to play poker and they wont chase him around and hound him for the rest of their lives about getting 3 months severance or 2 months. Poker players not getting paid/chips cashed is a completely different animal. This is an albatross that would never leave the "influencer owners" necks and hound them/hamstring them in every public facing endeavor for the rest of their lives. SOURCE: Ive been through card clubs getting raided/shut down before, not one player said a word about staff EVER. 100% cared about getting their chips cashed and once the chips cashed they immediately started playing again like it never happened.
Being misled to participate in a criminal conspiracy, or whatever they want. Verbal of 100k a year so they didn't take an another opportunity. Concern about their personal reputation being involved in "crime." Whatever.
But then again most plaintiffs lack the backbone and ability to bring about a lawsuit and most attorneys are too broke themselves to succeed. That's what I'd bank on as a risk hedge, not the law or standing or whatever if I were Doug.
I'd just be afraid of the plaintiff who has the means and indignation to pursue an action.
Ok, the question still stands. With all their money and clout, Polk et al could have bought an existing room, or opened their own room, in a more card room friendly state.
Main reason it made sense for him to run the room in Texas is he didn't need a gaming license. Any states with legalized gambling would require you to obtain an expensive and hard to get license.
Main reason it made sense for him to run the room in Texas is he didn't need a gaming license. Any states with legalized gambling would require you to obtain an expensive and hard to get license.
Bingo, it was the cheap and easy opportunity. Regulation makes it hard for tiny businesses to operate.
There has been one license for sale in Los Angeles for quite a while. The old "Club Caribe" in bell. The Flynt family owns the license and is selling it for 18 million IIRC. My guess is Dougs falling out with Hustler Casino Live would make him a bad choice to negotiate the initial purchase.
There is probably $5-$10 million in unpaid players funds. If you think doug is going to pay that then youre insane. Not only can doug not afford it, it would be illegal for him to continue business operations, which paying customers is a part of without a court order.
Doug doesn't need to be able to afford it, it's not like this money comes out of his own pocket. These are just players funds that the Lodge is holding while the players own the money in chip form. He'd simply be returning the funds, not paying from his own account. Once it's legally viable, that is.
Doug doesn't need to be able to afford it, it's not like this money comes out of his own pocket. These are just players funds that the Lodge is holding while the players own the money in chip form. He'd simply be returning the funds, not paying from his own account. Once it's legally viable, that is.
You think the state/feds are returning any money from an illegal gambling establishment?
That money is gone.
It is up to Doug and the owners if they want to personally reimburse players. Very complex decision that opens them up to additional liability.
There has been one license for sale in Los Angeles for quite a while. The old "Club Caribe" in bell. The Flynt family owns the license and is selling it for 18 million IIRC. My guess is Dougs falling out with Hustler Casino Live would make him a bad choice to negotiate the initial purchase.
Good data point. I sort of get the impression that Polk and the other guys don't even like Texas anyways, ragging on them being backward religious zealots and whatnot. Enjoying the unique benefits Texas offers while complaining. Sorta like the stereotypical police officer retiring at 50 in Florida with a fake disability collecting a huge pension from New York while complaining about high taxes and liberals. Equally ignorant and hypocritical.
I think that this issue is actually pretty simple. If employees were led to believe by their employer that things were legal and the corporate veil was pierced, the owners could be personally liable regardless of bankruptcy or clever attempts to shift assets. Many attorneys would jump at this option given the publicity. I cannot imagine them offering less than 6+ months of seve
You are completely over confident that the corporate veil can be pierced here. What do you believe the owners have done to allow a court to make a finding to pursue them personally? What is the cause of action the employees have? Texas is an employment at will state as I recall.
You are completely over confident that the corporate veil can be pierced here. What do you believe the owners have done to allow a court to make a finding to pursue them personally? What is the cause of action the employees have? Texas is an employment at will state as I recall.
Doug Polk has millions and is alleged to be an owner and marketer of an illegal gambling establishment.
He is a target and will be tested and spend a lot of money on attorney fees. The American legal system isn’t about justice.
I cannot imagine them offering less than 6+ months of severance to avoid liability and at the very least steep legal fees even if they prevailed. And more if they were "tip-based" jobs.
Being quiet could very well result in a class action, regardless of the merits given all the ambiguities.
Mods, can we get rid of these obvious trolls threadcrapping already?
Good data point. I sort of get the impression that Polk and the other guys don't even like Texas anyways, ragging on them being backward religious zealots and whatnot. Enjoying the unique benefits Texas offers while complaining. Sorta like the stereotypical police officer retiring at 50 in Florida with a fake disability collecting a huge pension from New York while complaining
I knew several people who moved out of california to texas and florida because of covid/taxes all but one has moved back to a bright blue state after discovering that texas and florida are grimy backward hell holes devoid of culture.
Have heard both. Appears it is literally on the county line.But which side?couple of folks who claimed Travis county later amended to say Wilco. Also one person said property was listed on Wilco. So I am not sure.
Being in Travis was my initial thought on why they were still open but I am not certain but it appears the property is on the Williamson county property tax roll and TCH has an account for their equipment on same tax roll but are within a mike of the county line
Doug Polk has millions and is alleged to be an owner and marketer of an illegal gambling establishment.
He is a target and will be tested and spend a lot of money on attorney fees. The American legal system isn’t about justice.
What does any of that have to do with a theory for an employee to pierce the corporate veil other than absolutely nothing?
I knew several people who moved out of california to texas and florida because of covid/taxes all but one has moved back to a bright blue state after discovering that texas and florida are grimy backward hell holes devoid of culture.
High income/high net worth people are more likely to stay in FL, TX, etc whereas the more middle to upper middle class types tend to move back. This may seem counterintuitive but it's what happens.
High income/high net worth people are more likely to stay in FL, TX, etc whereas the more middle to upper middle class types tend to move back. This may seem counterintuitive but it's what happens.
high income net worth people have multiple residences and dont spend a day in their godforsaken texas tax loophole. every instagram photo is from Big Sur!!!
Greed!And the ego boost of being the one that brought (legal) poker to Texas.When you think you're the smartest person in the room, it can lead to over-confidence which begets sloppy/lazy behavior. Polk, et al., thought they had a loophole. They were running an angle on TX law. But forgot that legal/political matters move at a snail's pace. And quite possibly forgot to make som
You might want to investigate a timeline. Polk was relatively late to the party in Tx.
TCH South Austin opened in 2014. They brought “legal” poker to TX via the private place loophole
The lodge first opened in 2018. Polk was not involved at all
Polk et al bought in 2022.
So thinking Polk brought legal poker to TX is laughable. He got involved 8 yrs into the grand opening.
This is exactly where I was going with this...
Yup, I met a poker dealer in real life that relocated their entire family to Texas to deal in that room.
Doug's good guy image is ruined if he doesn't offer at least 6+ months.
Not 6 months at $3 an hour either, but 6 months at the $40 an hour average these employees would have been making.
this is a pretty naive take, I feel bad for the dealers and had many dealers from MD (that dealt to me) move down to Texas including the lodge. So feel bad for them and their families but c'mon piercing the corporate veil? paying 6 months at 40 an hour?? what?
5-10 million in player funds are tied up (someone's guess on here) and honestly probably vapor now, I would happily take 20 cents on the dollar if I was a holder...NAL but your chips are just redemptions tokens claiming from the Lodges general cash fund, there is most likely not a segregated player fund and even if there is the funds have been seized and the lodge will have to fight a civil asset forfeiture if the DAs want to play hardball...what do you think is easier for the lodges lawyers to get criminal charges dropped for the asset forfeiture and some sort of nuisance-abatement order that will prevent ownership from opening another room.
Quite the cluster. Is there no way to play back at them?
Sitting Out blinding off is the only option? Or, maybe it's past that now.
Doug has decent reach maybe call Perkins.
Settle so they don't sue to avoid risk. The actual loss of wages and/or alternative career options is irrelevant.
They have zero grounds to sue.
Your understanding of the employment law, LLC structure, liabilities, etc is very limited and wrong on most points
Good Guy Doug is about to find out whether that reputation actually means anything.
From day one, Doug has sold himself as the guy who does the right thing, stands behind people, and makes things right when stuff goes sideways. Well, this is that moment.
The original reports were not just about whether Texas social clubs are legal in some abstract sense. They involved money laundering allegations and said TABC was working the matter alongside the IRS. That is what makes this bigger than a standard poker-room shutdown. Once the IRS is in the mix, this stops being just a state gambling debate and starts becoming a much broader financial-crimes problem.
And while a lot of poker players on here do not seem to care much about the employees, Doug should.
In theory, this closure could send people straight to the unemployment line in one of the toughest employment climates in recent memory. If your whole brand is being the good guy, then this is exactly when people are going to expect that to mean something beyond protecting player balances and making tweets.
What makes it look even worse is that people are already spinning up support threads, asking for donations, asking for gift cards, and trying to crowdsource help for displaced employees.
That is a terrible look for someone who has built his image around being the good guy of poker. When the public is being asked to step in and support your staff while your room is shut down in the middle of a money-laundering investigation, that is not just bad optics. That is the kind of thing people remember.
There is also a very practical reason not to leave employees hanging. If former employees know of tax issues, reporting issues, or other financial misconduct, they are not powerless.
The IRS Whistleblower Office can pay awards to people who provide actionable information. So if ownership thinks angry former employees are just going to quietly disappear while this drags on, that may be a very bad assumption.
So no, my point is not that Doug personally did anything wrong.
My point is that the original money-laundering reports already made this much bigger than a simple debate over the legality of Texas poker clubs, and if Good Guy Doug is now presiding over a situation where staff get dumped into limbo while the public is being asked to buy them groceries and gift cards, then the employee side of this could become a serious second-order problem very quickly.
TCH is in Williamson County. It's next door to the Aquarium. The red dotted line is the county line. Above it is Williamson, below Travis.
It is in the city of Austin though.
