A lawyer whose wife committed suicide after losing too much money at Blackjack on Ultimate Bet over a decade ago has filed a lawsuit against Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen. The lawsuit alleges that their Texas poker room The Lodge is operating illegally and involved in money laundering.
Illinois attorney Mark T. Lavery is also suing Polk for defamation after the Upswing Poker boss and Lodge co-owner called him “a total nutjob” in an email.
More than a Million Dollar Lawsuit
Lavery has launched claims against the famous trio totalling “$1.2 million in exemplary damages, or $200,000 each”, according to reports.
The separate defamation claim against Polk seeks $30,000 in damages, while three other lawsuits aimed at multiple Texas cardrooms, as well as former poker pro, Nate Silver, amount to $millions.
Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme, Brad Owen and The Lodge named
The lawsuit against The Lodge claims: “Defendant Douglas Polk is a notorious gambler and cryptocurrency maven that owns and operates a gambling place [The Lodge] in combination with Defendants Andrew Neeme and Bradley Owen…”
Lavery also alleges: “This case involves organized criminal activity as Defendants are members of a combination as prohibited by the Penal Code for gambling, keeping a gambling place and money laundering at [The Lodge], Round Rock, Texas.”
Nate Silver also targeted
Nate Silver, former poker pro, statistician and founder of FiveThirtyEight.com, is being sued merely because he played on a livestreamed Lodge cash game with Neeme.
Referring to Silver’s retweet of the link gaining 100,000 views, Lavery’s lawsuit contends: “Defendant Silver and Neeme gambled through the night publicly on www.youtube.com despite … been notified to abate the public nuisance earlier that day …”
The allegations also state: “When two close associates like Neeme and Silver play together, collusion, a form of poker cheating, is possible.”
The Pokerhaus Payout
Lavery previously bagged a payout in the infamous case, known as the ‘Pokerhaus’ lawsuit, which involved the likes of Faraz Jaka.
Laverty, and the nine poker-playing defendants he was suing based on anti-gambling legislation, eventually reached a settlement out of court.
Suicide led to anti-gambling crusade
Award-winning journalist Haley Hintze, who broke the most recent lawsuits story, revealed why Lavery is so bitterly anti-poker and anti-gambling.
“In October of 2008, his wife, a problem gambler, committed suicide after losing an unspecified but admittedly large amount of money gambling online,” wrote Hintze on Poker.org.
She added: “Lavery’s wife, then 34, had been playing blackjack online at UltimateBet before her losses became too much and she took her own life. Beyond the huge personal and emotional loss, Lavery may have suffered a significant financial hit as well.”
The other Lavery lawsuits, all similar in intent and wording, name the SA Card House, Stacks Social Club, the Gin Mill Card Club, and West Texas Card House and their respective owners.
At the time of going to press, none of those being sued or the Lodge had publicly commented on the allegations.
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