Will SC Texas Holdem Trial Rule Poker is a Game of Skill, not Chance?
It has been nearly three years since the raid on the Mt. Pleasant South Carolina home poker game, when a group of around 22 poker players were arrested and charged with illegal gambling for breaking the state’s 1802 law prohibiting games of chance with cards or dice. But that law is being challenged on February 13. On Feb. 13, five of the Mt. Pleasant players will get their day in court, with the verdict largely hinging on whether poker is determined to be a game of chance or one that involves skill, and is therefore legal under SC law. Jeremy Brestel, Bob Chimento, Scott Richards, Michael Williamson and John Taylor Willis chose to go to trial to challenge the antiquated law, rather than plead guilty and pay a $100-$250 fine like some others in the group. At the time of their request for a trial, Chimento, had said, “The law was basically set in place way back in 1802 because of the morality of the times. Times have changed … and this law needs to be changed.” The game, held in the p
