Seized Machine Case Could Upend South Carolina’s Video Poker Ban

The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is appealing a magistrate’s ruling that struck down the agency’s recent seizure of a video pinball game – a case which could wind up having far-reaching ramifications on the ongoing debate over video poker and other forms of gambling in the Palmetto State.

According to a filing submitted last month, SLED’s general counsel – Adam L. Whitsett – appealed a ruling reached on August 17, 2023 by Jeffrey P. Bloom, a magistrate in Calhoun County, S.C.

Bloom inherited this dispute – which pits the state law enforcement agency against the manufacturer of a video pinball machine – after every single magistrate in Richland County recused themselves from the case.

That’s right … every last one.

The drama began on April 20, 2022 when SLED agents conducted an alcohol inspection at Tavern on Broad, a private bar located at 7949 Broad River Road in Irmo, S.C. During their inspection, agents seized a pinball machine from the premises. According to court filings, SLED agents believed the pinball machine “to be an illegal gaming device on which individuals gambled and received cash payouts at the bar.”

The following day, a Richland County magistrate issued an order of destruction for the device – which allegedly ran afoul of state laws banning video poker machines.

***

Bloom overturned both SLED’s seizure of the “Montana De Luxe 2” game, a 9-in-1 entertainment device, as well as the order authorizing its destruction. The Montana De Luxe 2 is billed by its manufacturers as “the most famous bingo (game) in the country,” one which includes “optimized security features, top-quality design and state-of-the-art gaming technologies” so as to provide “an unforgettable gaming experience for bingo players.”

According to the judge, it is also legal to operate in South Carolina – much to the chagrin of SLED.

“The court finds and concludes that this machine is a mechanical pinball device,” he wrote. “As such, it is exempted by S.C. supreme court case law and statutes.”

According to Bloom, The Montana De Luxe 2 fits the definition of an “in-line pin or non-payout pin table game,” a category of game expressly exempted from seizure or destruction per the prohibitions established in S.C. Code of Laws § 12-21-2710.

“The backboard, or upright portion of the pinball machine which shows the different game options and scoring is in video format,” Bloom noted in his exhaustive ruling (.pdf). “But the game itself is a mechanical pinball machine. It is not a video game. The backboard lights up and has video game features. But the backboard does not control any part of the game.”

SLED, not surprisingly, disagreed. In its notice of appeal filed on September 18, 2023, Whitsett claimed Bloom “mischaracterized the machine’s operating features,” among other errors, erroneously concluding “it was not a video game.”

(Click to View)

Based on these arguments, SLED is asking the S.C. fifth judicial circuit to “reverse the decision of the magistrate and find that the machine on which unlawful gambling was engaged is in violation of (the law) and should be forfeited and destroyed.” It is not immediately clear which fifth circuit judge will receive the case – or whether there will be a wave of recusals similar to what transpired at the magistrate level in Richland County.

Bigger picture? It is not immediately clear how this case could impact the Palmetto State’s decades-long prohibition against video poker – an industry which continues operating in the shadows.

Video poker is illegal in South Carolina – and has been for nearly a quarter of a century.  It was effectively outlawed by order of the S.C. Supreme Court in October 1999 (a decision I believe to have been reached erroneously). Specifically, the court’s justices blocked a referendum that would have given Palmetto State residents the right to vote on video poker’s legality.

While I believe South Carolinians should have been allowed to vote on this issue … the S.C. General Assembly is clearly authorized to approve whatever gambling operations it wishes. Unfortunately, sanctimonious state lawmakers continue to rail against the ‘evils’ of gambling as they simultaneously run a state-sanctioned gambling ring (a.k.a. the S.C. Education Lottery).

“These elected officials have no ideological mooring, just a desire to expand government control – and government revenue,” I noted in a piece a few years back.

Indeed, video poker was banned in South Carolina mere months before the lottery was enacted – a transparent bid by the government to eliminate any competition to its own gambling operations. For years, I have criticized the state’s ongoing prohibition on gambling as nothing more than an attempt to uphold its gambling monopoly. My news outlet has called for this prohibition to be lifted on multiple occasions – and in multiple ways.

Thus far, lawmakers have refused to do so …

Count on this media outlet to keep our audience up to speed on the very latest developments in this case, in which SLED is going up against attorneys Dick Harpootlian, Jim Griffin and Frank B. McMaster, brother of governor Henry McMaster, all of whom represent the owner of the machine.

***

THE FILING …

(Via: Saluda County, South Carolina)

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to proactively address? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.