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South Carolina Says Poker Illegal Gambling, Skill or Not
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA --
The Attorney General of South Carolina has appealed a judge's decision to dismiss illegal gambling charges against five poker players on the basis that the game is one of skill. According to Henry McMasters, the ruling of Judge Markley Dennis on poker ignores a legislative imperative to outlawing gaming for money, regardless of the nature of the game.
Dennis ruled several moths ago that poker players busted in a game at a private residence in Mount Pleasant were incorrectly arrested, as the definition of illegal gambling includes a predominance of chance. Testimony and evidence convinced the judge that poker, while containing an element of chance, is mostly a skill game.
But McMasters says the state's General Assembly has indicated its will to forbid any game which involves the risk of money against another's.
In the Attorney General's view, the state Supreme Court should find that the state constitution allows that "the legislature sought to ban all 'gaming' for stakes at designated locations."
"In other words, in the General Assembly's view, the ills resulting from games played for money does not depend upon the particular game or the nature in which it was played," said McMasters.
The high court may also use the case to review what Dennis called "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad" laws on gambling, clarifying for future cases the nature of what constitutes illegal gambling.
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