South Carolina: status at a glance
| Online casino | Not authorized |
|---|---|
| Sports betting | Not authorized |
| Online poker | Not authorized |
| Sweepstakes casinos | No ban found in our sources |
A state with no licensed online gambling
Nothing in South Carolina's status table shows a licensed product. Industry trackers list no legal casino, sports betting or poker, and nothing on the state sites we read contradicts that. No gaming commission issues online licenses, so there is no regulator list of operators to consult.
The reason is in the Code of Laws. Chapter 19 of Title 16 collects the state's main gambling offenses, and it reads as a list of prohibitions, not a licensing scheme.
What chapter 19 says
Section 16-19-10 covers setting up lotteries. It reaches anyone who publicly or privately sets up or runs a lottery or chance-based scheme, and makes the offense a misdemeanor with a fine of one thousand dollars and imprisonment for one year. Each violation counts as a separate offense. Section 16-19-20 covers adventuring in lotteries: a person who takes part by paying money or giving something of value forfeits one hundred dollars per offense.
Section 16-19-40 deals with unlawful games and betting. It prohibits playing or betting on card or dice games and gaming tables in listed places, with exceptions for games such as billiards, chess and backgammon when no betting is involved. Keepers of such places face heavier penalties than players. Section 16-19-130 prohibits betting, pool selling and bookmaking on races, elections or other contingent events, as a misdemeanor with a fine of up to one thousand dollars, up to six months in prison, or both.
These sections predate the internet and do not mention online play. How they apply to a given website is a question for a lawyer, not for a register.
The lottery exception
The one organized gambling product the state runs itself is its lottery. The South Carolina Education Lottery Act, Chapter 150 of Title 59, was enacted by 2001 Act No. 59 and creates the South Carolina Lottery Commission as an instrumentality of the State. A nine-member board governs it, and the commission must be self-sustaining: general fund money cannot pay its expenses or prizes.
The Act narrows the word lottery. Its definition excludes keno, pari-mutuel betting and casino gambling, and it excludes machines and games, including video poker, covered by sections 12-21-2710, 16-19-40 and 16-19-50. Games that decide a winner by the outcome of a football, basketball, baseball or similar sports event are not allowed. Online lottery games are a listed category, with multistate online games requiring regulations. A share of unclaimed prize money is directed to compulsive gambling prevention and treatment.
Sweepstakes casinos and offshore sites
Our data records no South Carolina law or enforcement action aimed at sweepstakes casinos. They hold no license in any state. For how the legal theory works, see are sweepstakes casinos legal; banned states lists the places that have acted. Offshore casino websites hold no South Carolina license either, because the state issues none. The offshore casinos page explains what a foreign license does and does not mean.
Federal law is a separate layer and is summarized on the federal gambling law page.
Sports betting and poker
Trackers list South Carolina among the states with no legal sports betting, and with no online poker. The Education Lottery Act's bar on sports-outcome games, noted above, is consistent with that. The tables on sports betting by state and online poker by state show states that do license these products, and those licenses cover only people physically inside those states.
Getting help
We did not find a South Carolina helpline page on the sites we read. The national line, 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), is open to anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Is online gambling legal in South Carolina?
No agency licenses online casino games, sports betting or poker, and the statutes we read prohibit most gambling.
Is the South Carolina lottery legal?
Yes. It is created by the Education Lottery Act of 2001 and run by the Lottery Commission, under limits that exclude casino gambling, keno and sports-outcome games.
Can I play at a sweepstakes casino in South Carolina?
We found no state action on them, and they hold no license anywhere. The state's lottery statutes are broad, and their application to a particular site is a legal question.
Who regulates gambling in South Carolina?
Chapter 19 of Title 16 sets the offenses, and the Lottery Commission runs the lottery. No gaming commission licenses online products.