Poker games and raffles a long shot?

March 25, 2009 by senatormcconnell

Backers say Upstate conservatives may block social poker legislation

Dennis Rash of Goose Creek spoke for a lot of poker advocates when he told a panel of lawmakers Monday that South Carolina’s anti-card laws needed to be dumped.

Adam Flaherty wore his feelings on his sleeve, almost, as he spoke Monday at a Senate public hearing at North Charleston City Hall. ‘I bought it (the shirt) at Tanger Mall helping to stimulate the economy after a good night of poker,’ Flaherty said.

Golf tournaments with prizes are legal, he said. So are bridge gatherings and fishing competitions that reward a record catch.

“What makes poker any less wholesome than those things?” Rash said.

A first step in the uphill fight to legalize games of cards and dice, but primarily social games of poker, in South Carolina began with a public hearing and a crowd of more than 60 who came out enthusiastically in favor of a bill to decriminalize them.

Still, state senators hosting the hearing tempered the enthusiasm with a dose of reality, saying social conservatives are poised to block the effort, and it will need widespread support from the House of Representatives if change is to happen.

“Unless they get involved in this process, we’re simply wasting our time,” said Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, during the gathering at North Charleston City Hall.
More info

To read the latest version of the bills, go to scstatehouse.gov and search for bill 535 and 560 in the bill search box.

State Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, has filed two bills addressing gambling issues in the state. The first would overturn an 1802 law that, taken to the literal extreme, makes illegal any game of chance played with cards or dice, potentially including children’s games like Monopoly.

The second calls for a constitutional amendment that would authorize churches and nonprofit charities to hold raffles.

At a glance

THE ISSUE: Under state law, playing poker is illegal in South Carolina. State Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, has offered legislation legalizing so-called social gambling, which would create an affirmative defense from prosecution when the gambling is done in a private home and there is no house profit.
THE PROBLEM: Opponents in the Legislature, especially Upstate conservatives, already have killed previous efforts to legalize “kitchen-table” poker and don’t seem inclined to change their stance.
WHAT’S NEXT: A long legislative process of committee reviews. Statehouse bills have a two-year lifespan, which means that if the bill does not pass by the end of the 2009 session in late May or early June, there’s always time in 2010, which is an election year.

Representatives of the Lions Club and the Elks spoke in favor of the raffle change, saying it would go far in helping raise funds for eye research, burn victims and health fairs in a shrinking economy. Without an expanded ability to raise money, “we’re just a standstill organization,” said one man who identified himself as an Elks club member.

But it was the poker bill that was the main draw.

Only one person, Miguel Betancourt of Hanahan, spoke out against the legislation. He feared that legalizing social poker could be a step toward bringing in profit-motivated casinos the way video poker was allowed to flourish unbridled almost 30 years ago.

“It appears to be a Trojan horse,” said Betancourt, who said the slightest interpretation or change in the law could open the door for casino elements.

McConnell insists his bill would not open the door for legalized gambling houses to sprout up. As written, the bill creates “an affirmative defense” from prosecution when the gambling is done in a private home, 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.”

McConnell said a telling forecast on the bill’s future will come Monday when a public hearing on the two bills is held in Greenville, the heart of the state’s Bible Belt.

Ford called on pro-poker forces to attend that meeting, as well. “Y’all get a couple of buses,” he said, adding, “I’m always afraid of Greenville on these kinds of issues.”

By Schuyler Kropf
The Post and Courier

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