An archaic statute

In the fall of 2005, there was a police raid made on a group of people who were playing poker in an apartment-complex recreation room near Greenville, South Carolina. After several discussions with some of the busted players and their lawyer, I decided to do some legal research, based on the way the state law there governing poker is worded. Based on that research, I wrote a series of three columns in Card Player, stating that the law under which the players were charged was unconstitutional.

Let me state up front that I am not a lawyer, do not have a law degree, and have never attended law school; nor do I speak for this magazine on legal matters.

On the other hand, I have done quite a bit of research on state laws that apply to poker. A study that I did in 1990, “A Comparative Study of State Laws on Social Gambling,” is to the best of my knowledge still the only academic work on this subject. It was presented at an international conference on gaming in London that year, and was very well-received.

Card Player Magazine – South Carolina Update by Bob Ciaffone

Author Contact Info: Bob Ciaffone

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