Home casinos may soon be legalized in South Carolina

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted by a 15-6 margin on Tuesday to pass the bill that would allow cards and dice games to be played in South Carolina homes on to the full Senate. It is likely that the bill will also pass in the Senate, but that has some lawmakers concerned.

If approved, card and dice games would be legalized and residents would be permitted to gamble on these games in their homes with no limits. The law is being created to allow friendly home poker games amongst friends, possibly for small amounts of money, but what could come of the bill may be much worse.

If residents became creative, they could operate craps and poker games in their home with their friends. The stakes could eventually become high, and gambling houses are certain to pop up. It is a chance legislators appear prepared to take after a poker party was raided by police in Mount Pleasant.

The other concern of some lawmakers is that video gambling has been outlawed in South Carolina, and the fear is that the push may begin again to expand gambling. In other states, once some form of gambling has been legalized, lawmakers have moved in the direction of further expansion.

There still are ways to ensure that home casinos do not become possible under the new law. The Senate may make changes to the bill passed in the committee Tuesday to put a limit on how much can be wagered on a friendly home game.

The home gaming bill follows another gambling bill into the Senate that would allow charities and churches to hold raffles. Currently, raffles are illegal under state law.