South Carolina Sports Betting
Sports betting is not yet legal in South Carolina, but some lawmakers are interested in changing that.
In the meantime, South Carolina online betting options remain scarce. The good news is that fantasy pick’em apps offer a close alternative for fans looking for action today.
The even better news for fans is that recent developments point to growing support for legal South Carolina online sports betting.
Legal South Carolina Betting Sites
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Will South Carolina Legalize Sports Betting?
Lawmakers have introduced multiple bills in recent years to change state law and legalize sports betting in South Carolina.
However, South Carolina sports betting proponents face significant obstacles. The lack of a commercial gambling industry that would otherwise provide the experience, infrastructure, and lobbying activities makes legalizing South Carolina sports betting an uphill battle.
To further complicate matters, legalizing sports betting in South Carolina would require amending the state constitution. Amending the constitution would require a statewide referendum and the approval of voters.
Even so, South Carolina appears to be trending in the right direction for those who support legal sports betting. Every year, lawmakers introduce new bills to legalize online sports betting in South Carolina, and supporters seem to have all the momentum.
In late 2024, Representative Chris Murphy announced plans to introduce sports betting legislation during the next legislative session. Details are still limited, but he says it will resemble the bills that legalized sports betting in North Carolina and Tennessee.
He says there’s clearly demand for sports betting in South Carolina, that when the first North Carolina sportsbook apps launched, fans attempted to place more than a million bets from within South Carolina.
South Carolina Daily Fantasy Sports
South Carolina law neither prohibits nor permits daily fantasy sports, but that’s not a problem for the nation’s biggest DFS companies. Fantasy sports apps like PrizePicks, OwnersBox, ParlayPlay, and FanDuel serve the South Carolina market and accept customers 18 or above.
The most important thing fans should know about fantasy sports in South Carolina is that the industry is unregulated. As a result, it’s critical to choose safe and reputable DFS apps when playing online.
See BettingUSA’s SC DFS guide for recommended fantasy sports apps and further reading:
South Carolina Horse Racing Betting
Horse racing occurs in South Carolina, but wagering on races is outlawed across the state.
Betting in-person and online is prohibited.
Until the state constitution is amended and new legislation approved, South Carolina horse racing will remain a spectator sport, with no wagering allowed.
Despite the unfavorable conditions for gambling, South Carolina does host a handful of highly regarded horse racing events each year.
Legal online horse racing betting in South Carolina also remains a distinct possibility. Lawmakers introduced legislation in 2022 and 2023 that would have legalized advance deposit wagering.
The 2022 effort ran into strong opposition, with the governor vowing to veto any gambling legislation that reaches his desk. The following year’s effort performed much better, passing a full House vote before running out of steam in the Senate.
South Carolina Online Gambling
Although online casinos and poker sites are not legal in South Carolina, Sweepstakes casinos offer casino-style games that provide a similar experience.
South Carolina’s gaming laws are among the most restrictive in the nation, and under some interpretations may even prohibit any game involving dice or cards even if no money exchanges hands.
Online gambling is similarly restricted and there appears to be almost no support to authorize online casinos or poker sites.
was originally written in 1802 and is responsible for banning most forms of gaming across the state with few exceptions:
If any person shall play at any tavern, inn, store for the retailing of spirituous liquors or in any house used as a place of gaming, barn, kitchen, stable or other outhouse, street, highway, open wood, race field or open place at (a) any game with cards or dice, (b) any gaming table, commonly called A, B, C, or E, O, or any gaming table known or distinguished by any other letters or by any figures, (c) any roley-poley table, (d) rouge et noir, (e) any faro bank (f) any other table or bank of the same or the like kind under any denomination whatsoever or (g) any machine or device licensed pursuant to Section 12-21-2720 and used for gambling purposes, except the games of billiards, bowls, backgammon, chess, draughts, or whist when there is no betting on any such game of billiards, bowls, backgammon, chess, draughts, or whist or shall bet on the sides or hands of such as do game, upon being convicted thereof, before any magistrate, shall be imprisoned for a period of not over thirty days or fined not over one hundred dollars, and every person so keeping such tavern, inn, retail store, public place, or house used as a place for gaming or such other house shall, upon being convicted thereof, upon indictment, be imprisoned for a period not exceeding twelve months and forfeit a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, for each and every offense.
Part (a) above is the key piece of text that frustrates so many attempts at organizing any form of gambling in South Carolina. The fact that it says “any game with cards or dice” but doesn’t mention any involvement of money could be interpreted to outlaw even friendly kitchen table games.
In one example, state police warned a retirement community that its friendly bridge club of state gambling law.
SC Code § 16-19-70 further illustrates the state’s level of discomfort with gambling.
Under that provision, the operation of or playing of table games on the Sabbath is considered an offense punishable by a fine of $50.
Some state lawmakers have pushed back against these anti-gambling laws. In 2014, the SC Senate voted unanimously to pass a law allowing retirees to legally play bridge.
In the discussions leading up to the passage of the bill, gambling opponents expressed great concern that the bill would have “unintended consequences” that could potentially open legal loopholes to allow additional forms of gambling.
The odds of legalizing online gambling in South Carolina in the near future remain slim.
South Carolina Online Lottery
The South Carolina Lottery does not yet offer lottery tickets online, so authorized retailers remain the only places where players can buy tickets legally.
Unfortunately, online lottery services like Jackpocket and the Jackpot app do not yet operate in South Carolina, so purchasing tickets via courier apps is also not an option. South Carolina Lottery officials have mentioned looking into online ticket sales, but movement on that front has been slow.
Read more about the South Carolina Lottery online here: