South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Advance Home Poker Game Bill on Tuesday1802 Anti-Gambling Law One Step Closer to Being Replaced |
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On Tuesday, the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-6 in favor to advance S. 254 — a bill legalizing home poker games — to the Senate floor. The bill would replace a more than 100-year-old anti-gambling law which banned any games with cards or dice.
The vote comes a few months after the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments in October dealing with the 2006 arrests of five men in Mount Pleasant, S.C., for a playing a home game of Texas hold’em. A local court had originally found the men guilty of illegal gambling in a private residence. The case was eventually brought before the State Supreme Court for appeal.
Arguments were made for poker as a game of skill, not chance, and therefore not constituting gaming, or gambling, under South Carolina law.
“We are encouraged by the Senate’s overwhelming vote to replace the antiquated law restricting South Carolina’s basic citizen’s rights to enjoy a friendly game of poker in their home,” John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, said in press release. “Though the debate is far from over, this step represents a significant opportunity for lawmakers to fix misguided legislation on behalf of the individual rights of their constituents.”
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