Self-exclusion in South Carolina

How to put yourself on South Carolina's self-exclusion list, what it covers, and what it does not.

Programme: None. South Carolina has no gambling self-exclusion programme, and almost no legal gambling to be excluded from. The only state-run gambling is the South Carolina Education Lottery, and its Play Responsibly material offers helplines and treatment referrals — the S.C. Gambling Helpline on 1-877-452-5155, where 'You will be referred to a trained counselor who can arrange an individualized assessment and treatment plan', and a network of 46 county offices that 'provide specialized services for individuals and families affected by problem gambling' — with no self-exclusion or voluntary exclusion scheme of any kind.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
Covers online betting: There is nothing to cover: the lottery has no online sales and no wagering account to block. Asked whether tickets can be bought online, the Lottery answers 'No. You are only allowed to buy lottery tickets from a licensed lottery retailer in South Carolina.' Its Players' Club is for entering tickets already bought into second-chance drawings, not for buying.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
Covers casinos and shops: No programme exists, because there are no licensed venues to be excluded from. Casino-style gambling and bookmaking are criminal offences: Title 16, Chapter 19 of the South Carolina Code makes it an offence to 'set up, keep, or use any (a) gaming table... (f) any other gaming table or bank of the like kind or of any other kind for the purpose of gaming', and section 16-19-130 makes it a misdemeanour to engage 'in betting at any race track, pool selling or bookmaking, with or without writing, at any time or place'.scstatehouse.gov, checked 3 October 2026
Covers the lottery: No. The South Carolina Education Lottery's responsible play material is awareness, helpline and treatment referral only: short lessons on how the odds work, on lottery myths and on the warning signs of problem gambling, the S.C. Gambling Helpline on 1-877-452-5155, and a referral route to county treatment offices. It describes no way to bar yourself from buying tickets or claiming prizes.Two sentences previously recorded here as quotations from this page are not on it: one about conspicuous signage and printed literature at retail locations with television and radio public service announcements, and a guideline about setting a dollar limit and sticking to it. We checked the live page, the Lottery's other responsible-play addresses and three Internet Archive copies of it (1 April 2024, 1 October 2024 and 31 December 2024) and found neither, so this field now states in prose what the page does say. The finding is unchanged: there is nothing here that bars you from buying a ticket or claiming a prize.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
How long you can choose: None exist — there is no programme and so no term to choose.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
Can it be undone: Not applicable — there is no exclusion to reverse.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
What happens when it ends: Not applicable — there is no exclusion, so nothing expires and nothing stays in force.Worth saying plainly because the absence can be mistaken for a gap in our research: there is nothing you can sign in South Carolina that a regulator will hold on your behalf. Any block you set — with an offshore sportsbook, a sweepstakes app, your bank — expires on that company's terms, so write down what you set and when it lifts.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026
How you sign up: There is nothing to enrol in. No South Carolina body operates a self-exclusion list, and the Lottery's responsible play page offers counselling and the helpline instead.sceducationlottery.com, checked 3 October 2026

Worth knowing before you start

If you are gambling in South Carolina you are almost certainly doing it somewhere a state exclusion list could never reach — an offshore sportsbook or casino site, a sweepstakes or 'social casino' app, a video poker machine, a bet with a person. That changes what works. The blocks that hold here are the ones attached to your money and your devices rather than to a regulator: a gambling block on your debit and credit cards and on bank transfers, a blocking app on every phone and computer you use, and closing (not just deactivating) each betting account so the balance and the login are gone. Legalisation is still only proposed — the Interactive Sports Wagering bill H.3625 was 'Introduced in the House on January 14, 2025' and 'Referred to Committee on Ways and Means', and has not advanced beyond committee — so do not act on claims that South Carolina now has a regulated sportsbook or a state exclusion list. Free help: S.C. Gambling Helpline 1-877-452-5155.

Done? The rest of the hour: blockers, a bank block, closing the accounts, telling one person.

Every fact on this page was read from an official source and dated. The oldest of them was checked on 3 October 2026. Tell us if something here is wrong.