South Carolina Gambling and Online Casinos – State of the Industry
If poker and slots are what you are looking for, South Carolina is not the state for your next vacation. South Carolina has some of the strictest gambling laws in the US, and recently the state moved closer to prohibition than ever before.
First off, there are exactly zero land-based casinos in South Carolina. In most states that do not regulate casinos, there are at least a few Indian casinos for local residents. That is not the case in South Carolina, as the closest the state comes to offering any type of casino gambling is two cruise ships, the Diamond Casino Cruise, and SunCruz Casino.
Outside of those two gaming outlets, there is the state lottery. South Carolina allows residents to scratch off lottery tickets and play a weekly lottery game drawing. It had largely been assumed that residents could play poker with their friends in the comfort of their own home, but that notion was put to bed by the state Supreme Court in late 2012.
The ruling, which was much-anticipated, was in favor of the prosecution in a case against five men who were found guilty of illegal gambling charges by a local judge. The convictions were overturned by a circuit court judge who claimed that poker is a game of skill, and therefore is exempt from gambling laws. The state Supreme Court then ruled that skill or not, home poker games are just as illegal as any other form of gambling outside of the lottery in South Carolina.
If there could be a promising future it would stem from that Supreme Court ruling where there was a plea from one of the justices asking that the state rework their outdated gaming laws.
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