A poker lounge in North Texas was raided last week, resulting in the seizure of cash and contraband.
Cellphone footage captured the scene in Tarrant County where the Watauga Social Lounge (WSL), whose owner was cited in court documents with alleged illegal gambling charges, was raided as a result of an undercover investigation.
The owner was charged with organized criminal activity, keeping a gambling place, and gambling promotion.
Investigators arrested a total of 10 people and gave out more than 40 citations during the raid. Also, 35 items, including poker chips, membership cards, and playing cards, were confiscated as well as more than $200,000 in cash.
The raid was conducted during a $100,000 tournament game, reports PokerTube, which said that Texas poker clubs “operate in a somewhat grey area of the law, which forbids the taking of rake but has generally allowed clubs to operate on a membership basis.”
Rake is the scaled commission fee taken by a club operating a poker game, which can normally range between 2.5% and 10% of the pot in each poker hand, up to a predetermined maximum amount.
In a prior tournament this year at WSL, it was claimed that the club was allegedly taking as much as a 20% rake.
The warrant, which was issued by Tarrant County Judge Gallagher, authorized the search of what it called a gambling establishment, giving police the authority to seize “currency, gambling proceeds, financial instruments, and or other items of value … relating to obtaining, transferring, secreting or spending large sums of money made from engaging in specified unlawful activities.”
Court documents allege that undercover officers posing as poker players were charged illegal fees during multiple visits.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Game Room Regulation Unit was involved in the investigation, as was the Mid-Cities Drug Task Force.
The WSL is located in a shopping center called the Watauga Regency Square.