Spouse of gambler brought action against owner of video poker games seeking to recover wife’s excessive gambling losses. The Circuit Court, Horry County, Alison Renee Lee, J., entered judgment on $21,320 jury verdict for spouse, and trebled damages award pursuant to statute. Owner of games appealed. The Court of Appeals, Howard, J., held that: (1) rules of statutory construction, which required strict construction of penal statutes, did not increase burden of proof for recovery under statutes allowing recovery of excessive gambling losses; (2) treble damage award under statutes allowing recovery of excessive gambling losses was not punitive damages, and thus spouse of gambler only had to prove losses by preponderance of evidence standard; and (3) question of whether gambler sustained excessive losses playing video poker games was for jury.

Affirmed.