South Carolina sweepstakes casinos: a social-games exception that excludes electronic devices
South Carolina’s narrow social-games exception is unusually easy to misquote. Section 16-19-60 includes conditions such as no betting, no financial benefit and no electronic devices. A commercial internet platform cannot establish that exception simply by calling itself a social casino. The statutory requirements are about how the activity operates, rather than the branding chosen for it.
| Record | Local evidence and scope |
|---|---|
| 1 | Title 16, Chapter 19 prohibits setting up unauthorized lotteries and contains separate prohibitions on listed games and betting at specified locations. |
| 2 | Section 16-19-60’s narrow social-games exception requires no betting, no financial benefit and no electronic devices, among other conditions. |
| 3 | Section 12-21-2710 separately restricts listed gaming machines and chance devices. |
| 4 | Section 12-21-2736 says a machine license does not make an otherwise unlawful gambling machine lawful. |
Table sources: Document 1 · Document 2
South Carolina sweepstakes casinos: machine licenses and underlying legality
Title 12 separately restricts gaming machines and chance devices. Section 12-21-2736 says a machine license does not make an otherwise unlawful machine lawful. This distinction prevents a licensing reference from being used as a substitute for permission to run the game itself. Read the lottery, game and device provisions according to their respective scope instead of merging them into an assumed online promotional-casino category.
South Carolina sweepstakes casinos: an electronic product cannot rely on the word social alone
South Carolina questions about a social-games exception that excludes electronic devices
Does South Carolina’s social-games exception include electronic play?
Section 16-19-60’s cited exception includes a no-electronic-devices condition, alongside other requirements. A website’s social branding therefore is not evidence that the exception applies to its actual product.
Can a South Carolina machine license cure an unlawful gambling device?
Section 12-21-2736 expressly says that licensing does not legalize an otherwise unlawful machine. A license claim needs to be checked for both its scope and the underlying activity it purports to support.
South Carolina primary documents
South Carolina Code, Title 16 Chapter 19, Gambling and Lotteries · South Carolina Code 12-21-2710 and 12-21-2736