With the legality of poker in the news in South Carolina, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, Glenn McConnell, has called for hearings over the next couple of weeks to examine the possibility of legalizing friendly home poker games and charity raffles.
In an article in the Charleston Post and Courier yesterday, Senator McConnell believes that the time has come to legalize poker games and potentially “casino nights” and raffles for churches and other charitable causes. The hearings that he has called should, Senator McConnell believes, garner the support of the citizens of the Palmetto State. “I believe we can build a base of support across South Carolina that will make this General Assembly move,” the Republican senator stated to the Post and Courier.
McConnell has sponsored two bills in the General Assembly that would change some of South Carolina’s current laws. One bill would update existing gaming laws to allow for friendly poker games and the second calls for a constitutional amendment that would authorize churches and charities to hold raffles. South Carolina law at this time technically prohibits people from playing card games, including poker, among friends. It also is illegal for churches and nonprofit groups to hold casino nights or raffle items to raise money.
Poker is at the forefront of these hearings. Under the proposed bill sponsored by Sen. McConnell, social gambling would be permitted 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 bills also do not allow for slot machines, electronic video-gaming machines or wagering tied to live sports events. “I think we need to make sure people on a grass-roots basis understand what it does and doesn’t do,” McConnell said to the Post and Courier.
The hearings, which are open to the public, are scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30PM Monday (March 23rd) in North Charleston City Hall and on March 30th, beginning at 5:30PM, in Greenville County Council Chambers. To be eligible to speak before the senators, people attending the hearings will have to sign in when they arrive; if time permits, public comments will be taken. Senator Robert Ford, D-Charleston, will lead the hearings.
Back in 2006, twenty people were ticketed or arrested for their involvement in a poker game in Mount Pleasant which was raided by local and state law enforcement agencies. While many of these people entered guilty pleas and accepted fines regarding the charges, five people involved in the game decided to go to trial and change the laws regarding poker in South Carolina. In February, the trial took place with a great deal of involvement from the Poker Players Alliance and featured testimony from WPT announcer and professional poker player Mike Sexton and Professor Robert Hannum, Professor of Statistics at the University of Denver, who described the mathematical and statistical elements of poker.
As reported here at Poker News Daily, the judge in that particular case, Larry Duffy, ruled in his decision that “This Court, based on the… stated facts, finds that Texas Hold’em is a game of skill. The evidence and studies are overwhelming that this is so.” Although Judge Duffy’s decision that poker was a skill game was heralded by many as a victory for poker, he still found the five defendants guilty of their charges due to the house taking a rake from the cash game pots and a percentage from tournament entries to pay for food and drink. The case is currently under appeal.
