Hey Poker Fam,

Texas authorities just raided The Lodge Card Club.

TABC issued an official statement Wednesday confirming they're investigating "suspected money laundering and illegal gambling" at the Texas Poker room co-owned by Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme, and Brad Owen. Twenty TABC agents executed the search warrant along with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office and IRS. No arrests made yet, but The Lodge is now closed indefinitely. Polk called it a "witch hunt" and personally guaranteed player funds.

Also this week: 5 Poker legends confirmed for WSOP Europe in Prague, Bloomberg claims Drake wins 4x more often on Stake's in-house slots, and John Wasnock—2025 WSOP Main Event runner-up—quit his job to travel and fish full-time.

For this week’s lesson, I'm breaking down middle stages of the tournament—the accumulation phase where you build your stack before the bubble.

Let's get into it...

The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas—co-owned by Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme, and Brad Owen—was raided Tuesday morning. TABC has now confirmed they're investigating "suspected money laundering and illegal gambling."

The raid: About 20 TABC agents executed a search and seizure warrant on March 10, joined by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office and IRS. The raid happened just 16 hours after The Lodge Championship Series Main Event concluded.

TABC's statement: TABC Director of Communications Chris Porter confirmed the investigation involves "suspected money laundering and illegal gambling." No arrests were made. No charges have been filed yet. The investigation is ongoing.

The Lodge responds: The Poker room issued a statement Wednesday night saying they're "working to understand the reasons behind the search" and claim they've been "operating with integrity" and "in absolute accordance with Texas law." The Lodge is now closed until the situation is resolved.

Doug Polk's response: Polk personally guaranteed player funds in an angry response to Tom Dwan, calling the raid a "witch hunt."

Why this matters: The Lodge is Texas' largest Poker room. If TABC's allegations stick, it could have massive implications for Poker in Texas and other states with legal gray areas.

Source: Poker News / Poker.org

5 WSOP legends have confirmed they're heading to Prague for WSOP Europe 2026 (March 31-April 12).

Who's going:

Why this matters: When legends like these confirm attendance, it raises the prestige of every bracelet won at the series.

Source: WSOP

Bloomberg Businessweek analyzed 500 hours of slot play from 25 Stake gamblers and found Drake wins big on Stake's in-house slots four times more often than average players.

The findings:

Other Kick influencers like Adin Ross showed similar patterns. Ross and Drake both had higher frequencies of big wins on Easygo slots compared to other streamers and regular players.

The company's response: Stake co-founder Ed Craven denied the games are rigged, saying odds are controlled by third parties and "the same for all players regardless of their sponsorship status." Stake called the Bloomberg findings based on "arbitrary assessment" of big wins.

Why this matters: Drake has a multimillion-dollar deal with Stake and regularly streams his gambling sessions on Kick. The analysis raises questions about whether influencer streams show authentic gameplay or if the odds are different for brand ambassadors.

Source: Card Player

The LA Poker Classic Main Event drew only 50 entries. In 2007, it drew 791.

The four main issues:

Why this matters: When a historically significant series collapses, it signals broader shifts in the Poker economy.

Source: Poker.org

John Wasnock finished 2nd in the 2025 WSOP Main Event ($6M) and called his boss the next day.

"I remember talking with my wife that night and just thinking, you know, I don't want to go back to work anymore."

The new life: After 27 years at his job, Wasnock now balances time between his four kids and unique opportunities—like partnering with The Lodge at Whale Pass in Alaska for Poker-themed fishing weeks.

The Alaska trip: Fly to Ketchikan, take a float plane to the lodge, fish for salmon during the day, play Poker at night. Glacier tours, whale watching, bear observatory visits, five-star dining.

"I've never been to Alaska to go fishing. It has always been on my bucket list."

Source: Poker.org

The middle stages of a tournament are where winners separate themselves from the pack. Play is faster, more aggressive, and the blinds are increasing—which means you need to open your ranges and fight harder for pots.

This is the accumulation phase. You're building a stack to survive the bubble and go deep.

DEFEND THE BUTTON WIDER

One of the best ways to accumulate chips is to defend the button with a wider range. You have position, which gives you an edge in every post-flop decision. Play as many hands in position as you can and tighten up out of position.

Recreational players often misjudge when the bubble starts and tighten up far too early. If you can play more pots in position against players who are already playing scared, you're printing chips.

General rule: You can always call more from the button than any other position.

BLIND STEALING IS KEY

As blinds and antes increase, winning pots pre-flop becomes critical. You're not just stealing blinds—you're accumulating the ammunition you'll need for late-stage battles.

Defend your big blind wider too. You've already paid the big blind and the big blind ante, so you're getting better pot odds. If your opponent thinks you're over-folding your big blind, they'll start opening wider when you're in that seat. Make sure you're defending properly and not letting them run you over.

MAXIMIZE YOUR EQUITY

The middle stages are the perfect time to take higher-variance lines with your draws and ramp up aggression with high-equity hands.

Winning pots pre-flop is crucial because you don't want to be short-stacked around the bubble. Three-betting a wide, polarized range is a great way to build your stack and give yourself firepower for bubble play.

POT CONTROL IN THREE-BET POTS

Here's a mistake I see all the time: inexperienced players c-bet 100% of their range if they three-bet pre-flop.

Example: You three-bet A♥-A♦ and the flop comes J♠-10♠-9♣. You should check here often. This is a very wet, connected board, and you don't want to stack off just because you three-bet pre-flop.

Pro tip: Don't get married to aces.

The rule: C-bet boards that favor your range. Check boards that favor your opponent's range.

EXPLOIT POST-FLOP FOLDERS

A lot of players play wide ranges pre-flop but fold too much post-flop. Pinpoint those opponents and exploit them with a high c-bet frequency.

I also like to implement check/raise bluffs in the middle stages—a subject I cover extensively in my book .

CAPITALIZE ON YOUR SKILL EDGE

Your skill edge is still pretty high in the middle stages. There are usually a lot of weaker players left in the field. As you approach the later stages, the field gets tougher—so capitalize on your edge while you still have it.

Eventually, you'll hit the part you'll love or hate: the bubble.

In my book, I break down the Bubble period in detail—including how to exploit tight players, when to apply maximum pressure, and how ICM considerations change your ranges completely.

Free Poker Training → https://lexygavinmather.com/free-poker-training/

I pick up pocket kings and face a flop raise on Q-3-3 that has me definitely proceeding with caution—you're going to want to see how I navigate this value-betting spot!

To watch some of my wild hands, Subscribe to my YouTube Channel:

YouTube Channel → https://www.youtube.com/@LexyGavinPoker

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Poker.org published a guide to essential game terminology—more than just "nuts" and "fish."

Key terms covered: 3-max/6-max (table formats), 7-2 game (carnival game where winning with 7-2 earns bounties from all players), bomb pots (everyone antes, skip preflop), HORSE (Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, Eight-or-better), mystery bounties (random prize draws for knockouts), progressive bounties (your bounty grows as you bust players), run-it-twice (reduces variance).

Know the difference: A "7-2 game" (win with 7-2, collect bounties) is NOT "2-7 lowball" (make the worst hand: 2-3-4-5-7).

Source: Poker.org

Poker legend Lee Jones broke down who wins and loses under the new U.S. tax rule: you can now only deduct 90% of gambling losses.

The math: Buy in for $300K, cash out for $310K ($10K profit)—you pay tax on $40K. Buy in for $600K, cash out $610K ($10K profit)—you pay tax on $70K.

Winners: Cash games (consistent winning sessions), limit/mixed games, split pot games, running it twice.

Losers: Tournament players (85% of fields lose each event, then you bink one big win and owe taxes on the entire cash-out against 90% of losses), PLO players (absurd swings), carnival games (massive variance generators), high-volume grinders.

When the pain hits: Tax expert Russ Fox says grinders won't feel the impact until next year when W2Gs start arriving.

Source: Poker.org

PokerNews highlighted the women who drive the company forward behind the scenes.

Sava Krink (Live Events): "When everything works and no one notices the chaos behind the scenes—knowing I helped build that framework, that's when I'm proud."

Steph Freeland (UX/CRO): "I've learned how to read the numbers and spot patterns. I've got way more confident working with data than I expected."

Sophie Moseley (Content Publishing): "I’ve been surprised at how much confidence I’ve grown in this role. I’ve learnt that I can grow my skills in multiple areas at once, be counted on to teach processes to others and boost team spirits."

Source: Poker News

If you could quit your job tomorrow and travel the world playing Poker (or doing something else entirely), would you? What would you do? Reply and let me know—I'm genuinely curious what everyone would choose.

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Talk soon,
Lexy Gavin-Mather