GREENVILLE, S.C. -- It's an ESPN staple and a Travel Channel mainstay. Poker has become a billion-dollar business and every night, thousand of South Carolinians are playing in the world's biggest games online and in homes across the state.

Video

Gordon Dill Reports On Poker's Prominence

A recent Harris Interactive Poll found 3 percent of people admit to gambling online at work, up from 2 percent the year before.

The Interactive Gaming Council, an industry lobbying group, said there are 2,500 poker sites worldwide. They made $8 billion by their estimates last year, $10 billion this year and by next year, they are predicted to bring in $12 billion.

"You don't need to travel to the casino or the poker game. The poker game's here for you anytime you want it. There's no restrictions as far as when you can sit down and play," player John Drohan said.

Those high-dollar tournaments seen on TV are illegal in South Carolina, even in your own home.

"New beginners that are wanting to get in on with the craze of poker, they don't know. "They ask me, 'Tony, can we play this in our home for money? Is it legal in this state?' I tell them now it's not legal," retailer Tony Scarboro said.

The Department of Justice is taking a hard line against these online poker sites.

It says a 1960 law called the Wire Act, originally designed to prevent anyone from taking bets over the phone, makes online poker a felony, and government attorneys have warned two states not to pass bills to authorize and regulate Internet casinos.

But gaming supporters say the Wire Act doesn't apply, and point to a November 2002 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, in which a three-judge panel concluded the Wire Act did not apply to all Internet gambling. It was intended to target sports wagering, the judges said.