Lawsuit: Gary Watts says SLED, Irmo broke the law when they raided his poker game

Irmo police and the State Law Enforcement Division seemed to hold all the cards last year when they raided a poker game of Texas Hold ’em in an office suite and arrested 11 players, including well-known former Richland County coroner Gary Watts.

After all, SLED had inserted an informant into the game who wore a wire that recorded the players with “hidden recording equipment,” according to court documents — irrefutable evidence of poker playing.

But in poker, cards can be wild — and Watts just might have a Joker up his sleeve.

In a lawsuit filed in the Richland County state civil court, Watts and his lawyers assert that it wasn’t Watts who broke the law — it was actually the Irmo police and SLED.

“Playing poker ... with your friends in a rented office suite is not against the law,” says Watts’ lawsuit.

Watts’ lawsuit contained a rare bit of sarcasm for a legal document. It called the law officers in full tactical gear with assault rifles who smashed in the glass door to his rented office suite “a crack team of gumshoes” who “charged in like SEAL Team 6” and arrested a harmless “group of friends who routinely gather in an office suite to play poker, have dinner, and share fellowship.”

Watts, who wants a jury trial, is accusing Irmo and SLED of false arrest, malicious prosecution and trespassing. Illegal gambling is a misdemeanor.

The heart of Watts’ lawsuit is its contention that the state law against playing poker specifically names the places where poker is illegal: taverns, inns, liquor stores, barns, kitchens, stables, outhouses, streets, highways, open woods and race tracks.

In other words, it’s not the act of playing poker that is illegal — it is the location that can make playing poker illegal.

That law never mentions “rented office space,” which is where Watts and his friends were playing poker, in Watts’ office at 107 North Royal Tower Drive, Suite J, in Irmo, the lawsuit alleges.

“An office suite has never been an unlawful location for a poker game,” Watts’ lawsuit alleges. “There was no reasonable basis to believe that Watts had committed any crime.”

“Irmo PD and SLED knew or should have known that Watts and 10 others were not committing any crime and that there was no probable cause to forcibly enter the office suite and arrest these law-abiding citizens for playing cards with their friend,” the lawsuit alleges.

SLED, IRMO RESPOND

Neither the Town of Irmo nor SLED is folding their cards just yet.

“While we don’t agree with the exceedingly creative characterizations in the Amended Complaint, the proper course of action is to allow our judicial process to run its course. The Town of Irmo remains committed to transparency, accountability, and acting in the best interest of our community,” said town spokeswoman Ashley Hunter.

A spokeswomen for SLED, the state’s premiere crime-fighting agency, Renee Wunderlich, said in a statement: “It would be improper for SLED to discuss pending litigation.”

UPHILL BATTLE AHEAD

SLED and Irmo have a major hurdle to overcome.

In March, State Judge Thomas “Billy” McGee wrote an opinion that basically says playing poker in a rented office facility is legal, the lawsuit alleges.

In his order, involving an appeal from one of the poker players arrested at Watts’ 2024 poker game, McGee noted that state law only bans gambling and poker playing in certain locations: “(1) tavern, (2) inn, (3) store for the retailing of spirituous liquors, (4) any house used as a place of gaming, (5) barn, (6) kitchen, (7) stable, (8) other outhouse, (9) street, (10) highway, (11) open wood, (12) race field, or (13) open place.

“Thus, it is a crime in South Carolina to play a game with cards or dice at one of these locations,” McGee wrote.

But was not a crime to play poker in a rented office suite, McGee concluded, overturning the conviction.

After McGee’s opinion, the Town of Irmo dropped all standing charges against people arrested in the 2024 raid, said Victor Li, one of Watts’ attorneys. Charges had already been dropped against Watts so he could testify in the trial that generated McGee’s opinion ruling the raid illegal.

McGee also cited two S.C. Supreme Court opinions, one of which held it was not a crime to game on a boat because “boat” is not listed as an illegal location. The other high court opinion held it was a crime to play poker in a house — which is in fact one of the illegal locations.

In one opinion, McGee noted, former Chief Justice Jean Toal went out of her way to describe South Carolina’s gambling law as “hopelessly outdated” and and noted that it expired its usefulness “long ago and should not form the basis of a modern anti-gambling statute.”

WHAT WATTS WANTS

In the lawsuit, Watts, 69, said he has suffered embarrassment, had to pay for lawyers because of the criminal charges and lost work because of the blow to his reputation after the arrest. He wants an unspecified amount of damages.

Before the arrest, Watts was the marketing director of the S.C. Coroners Association and the auditor for the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners. He lost both jobs because of the arrest, he said.

“I certainly didn’t believe we were doing anything wrong, based on what the law says, ” Watts said in an interview with The State newspaper.

The people playing were local professional people and, in comparison with big league casino poker, the pots were reasonable, Watts said. “Everybody had a budget for it. Nobody was getting hurt.”

Poker is a healthy game, Watts said. “I’m almost 70 years old. I can’t go out here and play basketball, play football. This keeps your mind sharp. It keeps you competitive, it’s a great socialization with your friends. It keeps you young. There are people I play with I’ve been playing with for 40 years. We’re talking about doctors and professors and professionals.”

Watts, who was Richland County coroner for 20 years until 2020 when he lost re-election, said, “This just blows me away. The arrest blew my life upside down.”

Besides Li, Watts’ lawyers are former Sen. Dick Harpootlian and Chris Kenney.

Harpootlian said, “We believe law enforcement exceeded its authority based on Judge McGee’s interpretation of the state gambling law. As a result of publicity surrounding his arrest, Gary lost a number of economic opportunities, and we look forward to our day in court.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Lawsuit: Gary Watts says SLED, Irmo broke the law when they raided his poker game."