South Carolina Sports Betting Is Illegal Statewide

South Carolina has never legalized sports betting in any form. The controlling law is S.C. Code § 16-19-130, titled "Betting, pool selling, bookmaking and the like prohibited," which opens with "Any person within this State who" commits a list of prohibited acts is guilty of a crime. Subsection (a) bars betting at any race track, pool selling, or bookmaking, with or without writing, at any time or place. Subsection (c) goes further and criminalizes recording or registering bets or selling pools on the result of any "trial or contest of skill, speed or power of endurance of man or beast", the exact clause that sweeps in wagers on football, basketball, baseball, and every other sports contest, as well as bets on political nominations or any "lot, chance, casualty, unknown or contingent event whatsoever." Additional subsections reach anyone who keeps a room, building, or vessel for taking bets, or who merely aids or abets the operation. Conviction is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both, at the court's discretion.

A separate, older provision, § 16-19-40, bans playing at gaming tables and betting games in taverns, stores, and other public places, with lighter penalties for players (up to 30 days or a $100 fine) and harsher ones for the keeper of the establishment (up to 12 months or $2,000), it covers general gambling houses rather than sports wagering specifically.

The legislature has repeatedly tried and failed to carve out an exception. In the 2025-2026 session, House Bill 3625 proposed adding a new § 16-19-135 that would exempt licensed sports wagering and fantasy sports contests from § 16-19-130's ban, but it had not become law as of this writing. Until the General Assembly acts, every online sportsbook, retail kiosk, and informal betting pool in the state operates outside the law, and no state agency issues sports-betting licenses.

Betting on a sports contest, running a bookmaking operation, selling betting pools, or keeping a room or device for taking wagers all violate § 16-19-130 and are misdemeanors carrying up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both. Merely aiding or abetting an illegal betting operation carries the same penalty. Playing banned games at a tavern or public gaming table under the older § 16-19-40 draws a lighter fine up to $100 or 30 days, but keeping the gaming establishment itself risks up to $2,000 and a year in jail.