gambling

Mike Switzer takes a look at current business issues that are trending across our state with reporter Jessica Holdman of the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

Mike Switzer takes a look at current business issues that are trending across our state with reporter Jessica Holdman of the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

While gambling in South Carolina is illegal – sort of – the reality is that betting on sports isn’t difficult in the Palmetto State.

It seemed like quite the longshot — a bill to expand gambling in conservative South Carolina sponsored by a Democrat passing the House where Republicans hold a super majority. But Rep. Russell Ott managed to cobble together a rare bipartisan alliance on a bill that would allow betting on horse races on a smartphone app. The 56-46 vote Wednesday was eye-opening in a state long opposed to gambling. Twenty-three years ago South Carolina shut down a nearly $3 billion video poker industry. Ott's bill still has long odds. It now goes to the Senate, where a similar measure has been on the floor since February. And Gov. Henry McMaster has vowed to veto any gambling expansion.