Online Casinos in South Carolina

South Carolina's Gambling Offences Are Written Without a Medium

South Carolina has no casino and licenses no online casino. Several of its gambling offences are very old, but the one that matters most for online play is drafted in terms broad enough to need no updating. Section 16-19-130 makes it an offence for any person within the state who “Records or registers bets or wagers or sells pools or makes books, with or without writing, upon the result of any (a) trial or contest of skill, speed or power of endurance of man or beast, (b) political nomination, appointment or election or (c) lot, chance, casualty, unknown or contingent event whatsoever;” It reaches the money as well as the record: “Receives, registers, records or forwards or purports or pretends to receive, register, record or forward, in any manner whatsoever, any money, thing or consideration of value bet or wagered or offered for the purpose of being bet or wagered by or for any other person or sells pools upon any such result;” And it reaches helpers: “Aids, assists or abets in any manner in any of the aforesaid acts, which are hereby forbidden;” The penalty closes the section: “Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.”

A violation also has a civil consequence: “The violation of any of the provisions of Section 16-19-130 shall be deemed a common nuisance.”

The lottery provisions are separate and older. Section 16-19-10 provides that “Whoever shall publicly or privately erect, set up, or expose to be played or drawn at or shall cause or procure to be erected, set up, or exposed to be played, drawn, or thrown at any lottery under the denomination of sales of houses, lands, plate, jewels, goods, wares, merchandise, or other things whatsoever or for money or by any undertaking whatsoever, in the nature of a lottery, by way of chances, either by dice, lots, cards, balls, numbers, figures, or tickets or who shall make, write, print or publish, or cause to be made, written, or published any scheme or proposal for any of the purposes aforesaid is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined one thousand dollars and imprisoned for one year.” and section 16-19-20 reaches the participant: “Whoever shall be adventurer in or shall pay any moneys or other consideration or shall in any way contribute unto or upon account of any sales or lotteries shall forfeit for every such offense the sum of one hundred dollars to be recovered with costs of suit, by action or indictment in any court of competent jurisdiction in this State, one moiety thereof to and for the use of the State and the other moiety thereof to the person who shall inform and sue for the same.” Stakes themselves are forfeit: “All and every sum or sums of money staked, betted or pending on the event of any such game or games as aforesaid are hereby declared to be forfeited.” No online casino is licensed in South Carolina, and this site does not point readers at operators that are not licensed where they are.

The Only Exception Is a Private Game With No Device and No Profit

Chapter 19 contains one express exception, added for social play, and its conditions rule out anything commercial or electronic: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, it is not unlawful for persons who are members of a club or other social organization to gather for the purpose of engaging in games of tiles, cards, or dice including, but not limited to, canasta, mahjong, and bridge, where the games are played among members in a private residence, home, or community clubhouse or similar structure; no mechanical or electronic devices or machines of any kind, slot machines, pull tabs, punch boards, pull boards, or video games, devices, or machines of any kind are used or incorporated in any way; no person or entity of any kind receives any direct or indirect economic, financial, or monetary benefit of any kind; the host of the game or owner or lessee of the location in which the games are played does not receive any direct or indirect economic, financial, or monetary benefit of any kind; there is no betting, wagering, or gambling of any kind; a bona fide social relationship among the participants exists; and, except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing or winning are the same for all parties.”

No commercial operator can satisfy conditions that require no device of any kind to be used and nobody to take an economic benefit.

No Sourced Position on Sweepstakes Casinos

South Carolina has published no statute, rule, court decision or official opinion that this research could find addressing sweepstakes or dual-currency casinos, so this page records no sweepstakes status rather than inferring one from the real-money position. The state's history with electronic gaming devices is extensive, but nothing located in this pass speaks to an online dual-currency product, and inferring a position from an adjacent fight would be guesswork.

Sweepstakes casinos and real-money casinos are separate products with separate rules, and neither is presented here as a licensed version of the other.