Earlier this month, thanks to an unfavorable city vote, Doug Polk was unsuccessful in his bid to open a massive poker room in a town near Dallas. But his team of investors, including poker vloggers Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen, are back and ready to take over what will soon become the largest card room in Texas.
Polk, who is playing in the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Game this week, announced during Wednesday’s HCL stream that his team has purchased Rounders Card Club in San Antonio. The group already owns The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, and that room is currently the biggest in the Lone Star State with over 70 poker tables.
Plans for New Texas Poker Room
Prior to the Hustler Casino Live stream, Polk shared details of his plans with PokerNews, and he explained why he chose the San Antonio market.
“Market is very fragmented (in San Antonio,” Polk said. “When you look at very fragmented markets, there is an opportunity for someone to come in and put together the most cohesive package and consolidate the market.”
“The (Interstate 35) corridor between San Antonio and Austin is fast-growing,” Polk continued.
San Antonio, with 2.5 million residents, has the third largest metropolitan area in Texas, trailing Dallas-Forth Worth and Houston. The drive to Rounders from The Lodge Card Club is only about two hours, but Polk doesn’t anticipate the new room taking away players from The Lodge.
Rounders Card Club, an established room, currently has 30 poker tables, making it the largest in San Antonio. But that’s soon going to change. The Upswing Poker founder said a lease has been signed to operate out of a unit next door that is twice the size as the current business. As such, the newly owned Rounders will have 70-80 card tables, and become the largest place to play poker in Texas.
Polk, Neeme, Owen, and the rest of the investment group will take over control of Rounders Card Club July 3.
Polk’s Future Plans
Entering the San Antonio market isn’t the end of Polk’s poker business plans. In fact, he says, he expects to eventually open a room in every major city in Texas, including Dallas. But don’t expect him to give it another try in Farmers Branch, the town that recently shot down his plans to open the biggest room in the state at a contentious city council meeting.
Instead, he’ll continue looking for another spot somewhere else in the Dallas-Forth Worth metro. Polk, a three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, has also researched venturing outside Texas to open a poker room, but has yet to find a state that would be feasible.
Polk, Neeme, and Owen were part of the group that made a similar investment in January 2022, purchasing an established The Lodge Card Club, which they helped grow to not only become the largest poker room in Texas, but also one of the best places to play poker in the US. They’ll try to do the same thing with Rounders Card Club in San Antonio.
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