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South Carolina Bill to Legalize Home & Charity Poker Games Introduced
Mon, Mar 9th, 2009 @ 12:00am
South Carolina's 207-year-old law bans "any game with cards or dice," and definitely includes poker. But read literally, it also bans popular board games such as Monopoly and Sorry, or Bunko, a popular dice game. State Rep. Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) says this legal relic needs a common sense overhaul, so he has introduced a bill to legalize "social gambling" (such as home poker games) and events held for charity.
"It was written in another time, and government has no business micromanaging people's lives and the choice they make on the games that entertain them," McConnell, who is also Senate President Pro Tem, told the Post and Courier.
The bill proposes to create "an affirmative defense" from prosecution when the gambling is done in a private home, as long as "no house player, house bank or house odds exist, and where there is no house income from the operation of the game."
The bill also permits nonprofit religious, fraternal or similar charities to run "casino night" fundraising events. The bill says that the games would have to be of a limited duration where wagers are made on gambling activities.
The bill specifically prohibits events done with slot machines, electronic video-gaming machines or wagering tied to live sports events, including horse races.
Other lawmakers have recently tried to get legislation passed to legalize private 'social' poker games. The previous attempt died when Upstate conservatives killed it in a committee (click here for related article). But even with the backing of the powerful Judiciary Committee chairman, the bill faces tough odds in the Legislature.
On a related subject, even if this bill were already in effect the operators of the 2006 Mt. Pleasant game (which lead to historic ruling in SC that poker is a game of skill) would still be found guilty since they took a rake from the game.
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