South Carolina Senate Committee Approves Home Poker Law

South Carolina poker players may soon no longer have to fear that their home games might be illegal. The state’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-6 in favor of changing the state’s gambling laws which make all card and dice games illegal in the state, a law that had been on the books since 1802.

The bill will still have to pass the full Senate in order to become law. However, passage seems likely, as long as concerns about potential loopholes that could allow games like video poker back into the state are addressed.

Much of the debate stems from a 2006 case in which a home poker game in Mount Pleasant was raided by police. While the state has since argued that it was the nature of the game that ran afoul of the law rather than the fact that the game being played was poker, the case once again put the archaic nature of South Carolina’s gambling laws into the spotlight.

The new bill would not allow homeowners or those hosting games to take a share of any winnings, and electronic machines (such as slots or video poker) would not be allowed. However, there are no hard limits on how much money could be gambled in home poker games.

Much of the debate on the issue revolves around making sure the law only makes a limited number of small scale and private gambling activities – along with games played by children and families for non-gambling purposes – legal. According to a report at wspa.com, State Senator Chip Campsen cited the fact that just two words in the 1986 state budget allowed unregulated video poker to enter South Carolina, emphasizing the importance of being diligent in rooting out any potential loopholes in the new legislation.

However, State Senator Ray Cleary said that the bill clearly states that such games would not be allowed back into the state.

“We spelled it out in black and white that video poker is illegal,” he said. “Slot machines are illegal and nothing can be construed in this to allow it.”

It was unclear when the full Senate would take up a vote on the issue.