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South Carolina Casinos Online — Are They Permitted?
South Carolina online casinos can be found through offshore operators, despite the state’s extremely restrictive gambling laws. Numerous gambling sites are available to SC players, including the best slots, poker, and crypto gambling websites.
The page shares information about in-person gambling opportunities as well, such as the state’s sole casino cruise ship and bingo halls in Charleston and Colombia, SC, respectively. You can also read about South Carolina’s gambling history, which goes back nearly three centuries, as well as learn about some of the South Carolina-specific responsible gambling resources that are available.
Disclosure: At GamblingSites.com, our mission is to connect you with the best gambling sites and informational resources available. If you click one of the links on our site, we may earn a commission payment at no extra charge to you.
Best South Carolina Gambling Sites
Sites- Red Dog Casino – Best Gambling Site for South Carolinians
- Slots.lv – Best South Carolina Slots Casino
- BetUS – Best Sports Betting Site for SC
- Bovada – Best Poker Site for South Carolina
- BC.Game – Best Site for Bonuses in South Carolina
- SlotsandCasino – Best Crypto Site for South Carolinians
- EveryGame – Best South Carolina Mobile Gambling Site
- Ignition Casino – Best Live Dealer Site for South Carolinians
Red Dog Casino Best Gambling Site for South Carolinians
It’s hard to find a better first-time gambling site than Red Dog Casino. And why bother? It’s friendly, easy to use, and with plenty of gaming options—what’s not to like? This real money online casino is South Carolina’s best bet for gaming.
Red Dog Casino features hundreds of popular RealTime Gaming slots, like Aztec’s Millions, Goblins: Gluttony of Gems, and Kung Fu Rooster.
If video poker is your game, you’ll find 14 different flavors, including Deuces Wild and Double Double Jackpot Poker. Red Dog also has table games, including blackjack, Caribbean draw poker, Caribbean stud poker, baccarat, and European roulette.
Red Dog offers a healthy range of deposit options, including credit card and all of the popular cryptocurrencies. With an active VIP program in place, Red Dog stands ready to make every South Carolinian’s internet gaming experience enjoyable and exciting.
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- Bonus: 250% Up to $8,000
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Slots.lv Best South Carolina Slots Casino
If “slots” is your name, then you probably better have something to do with slots, right? That’s exactly what South Carolinians get at Slots.lv—hundreds of popular slots from Rival and Genesis Gaming. Need an example? How about the immensely popular A Night with Cleo—in both regular jackpot and hot drop jackpot versions.
Speaking of jackpots, you’ll find dozens of slots with jackpots in the thousands, and also plenty of progressive jackpots: 777 Deluxe was offering a $149,000 jackpot when we checked; Gold Rush Gus was offering a $90k jackpot, and of course, Shopping Spree had a progressive jackpot of $1.65 million. Slots.lv lives up to its name with slots games, from A Day at the Derby to Zombies FC, and everything in between—exactly what you want as a slots player in the Palmetto state.
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- Bonus: 100% up to $2,000 + 20 FS
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BetUS Best Sports Betting Site for SC
When you’re ready to put a tenner down on the Clemson Tigers or the South Carolina Gamecocks, you’ll find BetUS offering a well-appointed and easy-to-use sportsbook where you can do just that. It’s one of the country’s best sports betting sites, and it’s equally useful on mobile phone and PC platforms.
The site offers access to 20,000 betting markets, featuring popular sports the world ‘round. Sure, you’ll find baseball, football, hockey, and basketball prominently covered at BetUS, but you’ll also find cricket, soccer, rugby, NASCAR, tennis, and even eSports. And BetUS doesn’t ignore the ponies, either. Both American and international tracks are covered, with thoroughbred, quarter horse, harness racing—even steeplechase. BetUS is South Carolina’s one-stop shop for sports betting.
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- Bonus: 125% up to $2,500
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Bovada Best Poker Site for South Carolina
Poker was popular on the internet back when it was just two cans with a string between them. And Bovada was there, shuffling cards. Now, of course, the Internet is all grown up, and Bovada has been patiently and steadily dealing poker from its proprietary network for more than two decades.
Bovada welcomes South Carolina players with up to $500 in an exclusive poker bonus. Once you’re signed up, enjoy the ability to play multiple anonymous tables of hold’em, Omaha and Omaha hi-lo at the stakes levels you want. You’ll also find plenty of knockout and sit & go tourneys, along with $200,000 guaranteed tournaments. For the impatient, there’s even zone poker that whisks you to another table right after you fold a hand. To coin a phrase, Bo(vada) knows poker.
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- Bonus: 125% up to $1250
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BC.Game Best Site for Bonuses in South Carolina
Saving your bankroll for the best sign-up bonus? How about BC.Game’s 360% matching of deposit up to 100,000 BCD? And even after you’ve taken advantage of the site’s generous welcome bonus, you’ll find yourself automatically a member of the BC.Game’s VIP program, where you’ll continue to enjoy additional rewards and bonuses as you ascend the VIP ranks.
The initial welcome bonus at this crypto-exclusive South Carolina online casino is spread over the first four deposits, and range in matching between 180% and 160%. And BC.Game is quite liberal in the games you can play to rollover your bonus. Slots, table games, even live dealer tables, virtually all of them apply. You can even earn additional bonuses by referring your South Carolina friends and neighbors to BC.Game.
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- Bonus: 360% up to 100,000 BCD
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SlotsandCasino Best Crypto Site for South Carolinians
You have an excellent chance of being able to use your favorite mainstream cryptocurrency to sign up with SlotsandCasino. That’s because SlotsandCasino accepts deposits in Bitcoin, BitcoinCash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. Of course, it also accepts deposits using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
And SlotsandCasino doesn’t forget you once you’ve signed up. They offer exclusive perks to crypto depositors, such as 10% daily cashback and an additional 3% rebate on crypto deposits, as well as lower rates and fees on both deposits and withdrawals.
If you like crypto (and who doesn’t?), you will find the options at SlotsandCasino hard to beat.
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- Bonus: 500% up to $7,500
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EveryGame Best South Carolina Mobile Gambling Site
Online since 1996, Everygame has stayed on every gambler’s shortlist for decades by delivering the best casino experience available. With the explosive growth of mobile platforms like phones and tablets, the site worked diligently to offer games that translate transparently from desktop to your mobile platform and back again.
Built on HTML5 (a very powerful language designed to build interactive browser apps), Everygame takes pride in making every one of its games—from slots and video poker to live dealer, and even its sportsbook—navigable, readable, and playable on the mobile platform. Like to play the slots in portrait view? No problem. Prefer table games in landscape? Ditto. Your display adapts to your choices.
And South Carolinians never need to download a proprietary app to play at Everygame. Just open your mobile browser on your phone or tablet, navigate to Everygame, make your first deposit (and claim your bonus), pick your game and start playing. Would you expect anything less from the best SC online casino for mobile gambling?
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- Bonus: 125-150% up to $5,555
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Ignition Casino Best Live Dealer Site for South Carolinians
Ignition Casino is a great South Carolina gambling site for many reasons, but the best reason is its selection of live dealer table games.
The site hosts 34 blackjack tables, two of which feature early payout. Whether you’re a casual player or a high roller, you’ll find the wide range of betting limits very amenable: Anywhere from $5-$100 all the way up to $250-$10,000.
There are five roulette tables—three of which are American (00) and two European (single 0). Betting limits are $1-$300 up to $10-$3000. Surprisingly, there’s a single baccarat table supporting multiple betting limits ($5-$100 up to $100-$2500). There’s also a Super 6 table that takes wagers at $5-$100, up to $100-$2500.
The live dealers at the site are all cheerful, efficient, and knowledgeable, and they help to make Ignition one of the top-ranked online casinos accepting USA players.
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- Bonus: 300% up to $3,000
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South Carolina Gambling Sites Compared
Comparison Table| Site | B.E.S.T. Rating | Welcome Bonus | Specialty | Review | Visit Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dog Casino | 4 | 250% up to $8,000 | Best Gambling Site | Read Review | Visit Red Dog Casino |
| Slots.lv | 4 | 300% up to $7,500 | Best Slots Casino | Read Review | Visit Slots.lv |
| BetUS | 4.5 | 125% up to $2,500 | Best Sports Betting Site | Read Review | Visit BetUS |
| Bovada | 4.5 | 125% up to $3,750 | Best Poker Site | Read Review | Visit Bovada |
| BC.Game | 4 | 360% up to 100,000 BCD | Best Site for Bonuses | Read Review | Visit BC.Game |
| SlotsandCasino | 4.5 | 300% up to $4,500 | Best Crypto Site | Read Review | Visit SlotsandCasino |
| EveryGame | 4.5 | 100% up to $500 | Best Mobile Gambling Site | Read Review | Visit EveryGame |
| Ignition Casino | 4.5 | 300% up to $3,000 | Best Live Dealer Site | Read Review | Visit Ignition Casino |
How We Choose the Best Gambling Sites for South Carolinians
RankWe don’t just pick an arbitrary rating when we vet an online gambling operation. Our B.E.S.T. scoring system is how we rank each site to arrive at a rating reflecting the site’s commitment to serving its South Carolina patrons well.
The system takes many characteristics into consideration:
- Bonuses — Most South Carolina gamblers like to know that a site wants their patronage enough to reward them with bonuses. First among these is the site’s welcome bonus, but others are equally important. We also look for reload, referral, and loyalty bonuses before we assign a specific score in this category.
- Entertainment Features — We look at everything about the site for this, from the simplicity and appeal of its user interface to the speed in which various games load and play. We expect online sportsbooks to offer a wide range of sports betting options, and online casinos need to show us a sizeable inventory full of diverse, high-quality games.
- Safety and Security — This category requires us to closely inspect the technical components the site employs to keep your financial and personal information secure. We look at the site’s data security, ensuring that the site uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) for data encryption, and assess their privacy policy.
- Transactions — In addition to a separate check on data security here to ensure the site adheres to banking-level encryption, we also grade the site on the variety of its deposit and withdrawal methods. We score the site on the speed in which it completes withdrawal requests, as well as if there are any limits or fees.
Is Gambling Legal in South Carolina?
LegalNo, gambling is not legal in South Carolina. For the last 250 years, South Carolina has been resolutely against gambling in any form.
Yes, bingo and raffles run by charitable institutions such as churches and various civic groups has been permitted (within very stringent limits), but poker, horse racing, roulette, craps, bets on sporting events—any wagering games you could play anywhere within the physical confines of South Carolina’s borders—have all been prohibited.
Along with its 1788 Constitution, South Carolina created a Code of Laws that included an entire chapter iterating “Gambling and Lottery” offenses(1). Among the many prohibited games were faro-bank, roley-poley, and Even-Odd—perhaps not well-known today, but a scourge in colonial times.
Even though lotteries were a regular part of colonial life (cities often used lotteries to finance building projects such as bridges and roads), many of the original 13 colonies established laws against lotteries and gambling as they codified laws to join the Union.
South Carolina was not the first or last of the new states to eschew lotteries and gambling. It was, however, the most stringent, with a complete prohibition of all gambling and lotteries. For most of its 250 years as a state, South Carolina has steadfastly refused to permit gambling within its borders. It has, in fact, barely changed its anti-gambling laws during its two-and-a-half centuries of statehood.
Fortunately for South Carolinians, those 250-year-old laws knew nothing about the Internet Age. Our research indicates that there are no laws on the books in South Carolina specifically prohibiting online casinos.
There are, however, laws about wagering or otherwise participating in games of chance in South Carolina. Although most gambling prosecutions of in SC involve those hosting or organizing games rather than those placing wagers. Consequently, we recommend that if you want to gamble while in the Palmetto State, it’s best that you consult a local attorney to review your options.
Some might point out that South Carolina does permit casino cruises, but in fact, the state only permits ships to pick-up and deliver gamblers in Myrtle Beach. No gambling takes place on the ship until it has left port and crossed into international waters three miles out to sea.
And yes, through some chicanery and manipulation of legalese, one section of the anti-gambling laws was altered enough to permit a certain type of gambling. Thus, the state endured the scourge of video poker for 13 years. In 1999, however, the state managed to close the surprise loophole.
During its brief tenure in South Carolina, more than 4,000 video poker rooms containing an estimated 34,000 video poker machines freckled the state, and the industry was reported to have generated more than $2.8 billion in annual revenue.
Land-Based Gambling Options in South Carolina
Land-Based Gambling OptionsWith the exception of bingo, charitable raffles, and casino cruises, little opportunity exists in South Carolina to place a wager. Let’s review the options:
Casino Cruise
There is a single casino cruise company in operation in South Carolina: The Big “M” Casino operates two luxury cruise ships ported in Little River (near Myrtle Beach). Each of the ships can take up to 450 passengers three miles out to sea, into international waters.
At the time of this writing, only one of the two ships was operating. Sailing schedule is every day but Monday. Tuesday through Sunday cruises run 11 AM to 4 PM, while an evening cruise (6 PM to 11 PM) runs Thursday through Sunday.
Bingo
| Name | Address | County | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evanston Beach Bingo | 5341 Dorchester Road North Charleston, SC 29418 | Charleston | Open Monday through Saturday 2 PM through 2 AM, Sundays 5 PM to 2 AM |
| Westside Bingo | 1474 Charleston Hwy West Columbia, SC 29169 | Lexington | Open Monday and Tuesday, 1 PM to midnight, Wednesday through Sunday, 1 PM to 2 AM |
| Carolina Beach Bingo | 2768 Decker Boulevard Columbia, SC 29206 | Richland | Open 7 days a week, 11 AM to 11 PM |
State Education Lottery
The South Carolina State Education Lottery has thousands of retailers statewide selling lottery tickets, from multistate Powerball and MegaMillions to $1 scratch-offs. Whether you live in Charleston, Columbia, or Greenville, chances are you’re just a short walk away from a lottery retailer.
Timeline of Gambling Legislation in South Carolina
California Gambling TimelineAfter nearly a year of working its way through various committees, HB 3514—which amends the state Code of Laws to include the “South Carolina Equine Advancement Act(2)”—resides in the House at the time of this writing. The Act legalizes horse racing and parimutuel wagering at tracks within the state, as well as establishes a South Carolina Equine Commission to administer and regulate horse racing and parimutuel wagering on horse racing. Offshore sportsbooks and casinos continue to provide the majority of South Carolina’s gambling opportunities.
HR5277(3) was introduced in the South Carolina House authorizing the licensing and operation of sports wagering in South Carolina. The bill was immediately referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it remained as of this writing.
South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled that the Catawba Indian Tribe could not operate video poker machines on reservation lands.
South Carolina’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision relieving five men who played poker for money in someone’s home. While many observers claim the supreme court’s decision effectively deems poker a game of chance, the court’s own language emphasizes that the salient point is that the gambling took place in a prohibited location.
South Carolina passed the Gambling Cruise Act(4), legalizing ocean-going vessels departing from its ports to travel outside the state’s three-mile limit into international waters.
South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges signed the South Carolina Education Lottery Act into law. The act specifically excluded keno and other casino-related “lottery games”, as well as parimutuel wagering and video poker. While many jurisdictions in the state actively worked to shut down video poker machines, others continued to permit them to operate.
After permitting video poker machines to operate for years, the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered all video poker machines to cease operation(5) by midnight, June 30th.
US Congress passes The Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act. The Act made the Catawba Nation the only federally-recognized tribe in South Carolina, while also rendering the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act inapplicable to the tribe. Since the tribe is governed by state rather than federal law, the Catawba reservation installs video poker machines to augment its bingo revenue.
State Senator Jack Lindsay added an amendment to an appropriations bill that deleted “or property” from a section of the state’s Code of Laws governing gaming machines. The altered law was used to justify the foundation of the state’s video poker industry for the next 14 years.
South Carolina became the eighth state to join the Union. Among its first laws was the prohibition of all forms of gambling(6), including then-popular games like faro-bank, thimbles, roley-poley, rouge et noir, and E.O (also called Even-Odd, a rudimentary game thought to be an ancestor of roulette) tables.
Future of South Carolina Gambling
FutureAs far as gambling is concerned, for two and a half centuries legislators of South Carolina have stood bravely against the winds of change; it’s unlikely this is going to change soon. Perhaps in concession to this obstinance, the state’s only federally-recognized Indian tribe, the Catawba Nation, ceased operation of its high-stakes bingo hall in 2017. Later, the tribe abandoned its efforts to open a casino within South Carolina’s borders and instead partnered with another tribe to open a casino about five miles into North Carolina.
Still, legislative efforts to drag South Carolina into the 21st century continue apace. Bills supporting the licensing of sportsbooks and horse racing parimutuel wagering in the state sit in various committees in the state house and senate—some languishing for years.
It’s enough to make a South Carolinian sigh and wearily repeat the state’s motto: dum spiro, spero. Some legal experts are uncertain of how invested the state of South Carolina is in forcing internet gaming into the framework of its gambling laws. At this point, the state has made no law governing internet gambling. Still, we’re not attorneys; we simply report the conditions out there. Currently, the state’s code of laws makes no mention of prohibiting internet casinos from accepting patrons from South Carolina. If you are interested in gaming there, be sure to consult an attorney for your options.
Gambling Responsibly
Gambling ResponsiblySouth Carolina’s near-complete prohibition of gambling may be a tad more harsh than we’d like, but it clearly demonstrates the need for its citizens to ensure they are gambling responsibly.
As such, the state’s “Responsible Gambling” service can be found on the internet on the state’s Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. The state doesn’t keep statistics on problem gambling, but Yale Medicine says that approximately 1% of all adult Americans are problem gamblers or are prone to gambling irresponsibly. With an adult population of 3,077,453, that would mean South Carolina is home to nearly 40,000 people in danger of becoming problem gamblers.
If you or anyone you know in South Carolina is having a problem with gambling, be sure to contact one of the following:
- Gambling Addiction Services, State of South Carolina
- Gamblers Anonymous
- South Carolina Resources, National Council on Problem Gambling
Legal Sources
Legal Sources- “Gambling and Lotteries” Title 16, Chapter 19, South Carolina Code of Laws
- “South Carolina Equine Advancement Act” H. 3514
- HR 5277, South Carolina State House of Representative
- Gambling Cruise Act South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 3, Chapter 11
- “South Carolina High Court Derails Video Poker Games” New York Times
- “Keeping unlawful gaming tables” Title 16, Chapter 19, Section 50, South Carolina Code of Laws
Gambling Online in South Carolina
With rather restrictive gambling laws in place in South Carolina, residents can enjoy land-based options like Bingo or the state lottery, but otherwise are forced to seek out reputable offshore gambling websites. The good news is there are plenty available within the state, with Red Dog Casino standing out as the best overall online gambling site available to South Carolina residents.
If you’re only looking for the best South Carolina online casino, Slots.lv takes the cake with their impressive combination of casino games and appealing bonuses. You may have preferences for other types of gambling, too, so knowing BetUS is the state’s best offshore sportsbook and Bovada is your top option for poker could also prove useful.
The options are borderline endless if you want to gamble online in South Carolina. Just make sure you fully understand the state’s laws and how they apply to you before choosing which site to gamble at online.
More Guides to Online Gambling in the United States
