[jetset]

POKER REFORM IN SOUTH CAROLINA?

But only for "recreational activity"

A longtime ban on poker playing in the state of South Carolina will soon be under the legislative microscope if state Representative Wallace Scarborough of Charleston has his way.

The state lawmaker wants to revamp South Carolina's gambling laws to legalise in-house poker games, and is busy drafting legislation to permit the games as long as they are done under the heading of "recreational activity."

The bill, still in the early stages of development, would be part of an overall effort to update the state's 200-year-old gaming laws, which some say technically prohibits card and dice games and even some common board games like Monopoly.

Scarborough called the restrictions "ridiculous, considering we live in a modern era."

The proposal comes after a raid in Mount Pleasant that ended with a 28-year-old man being charged with operating a gambling establishment. Nathan Stallings pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that cost him $747 in fines and court costs, but lets him avoid jail time, reports Associated Press.

The game at Stallings home had been advertised on an Internet site that attracted like-minded poker enthusiasts from all over the Lowcountry. Players paid $20 to join the game, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the house.

Eighteen of the players arrested in the raid are seeking jury trials in what they say is a bid to toss out the state's anti-poker laws. A trial date has not been set, Mount Pleasant Town Attorney Ira Grossman said Friday.

Scarborough, whose proposal is unrelated to the Stallings case, says he knows his proposal will run into much opposition, particularly from some of his Republican peers from the Upstate.

"I'm going to have a million people against it," he said.

Scarborough also said the key to the proposal is making sure that the law would not open the door to organised gambling houses. "That is not my goal and not my intent," he said.

The West Virginia Legislature also has gaming on its agenda, and will be considering whether or not to have a statewide vote to legalise table games at racetracks. The current bill under consideration only requires the four counties that have racetracks to vote, but others want to make it a statewide issue.