---
title: O.C.G.A. § 13-8-3. Gambling contracts.
collection: code
id: 13-8-3
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 13-8-3 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-8-3
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date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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heading_path: CONTRACTS / ILLEGAL AND VOID CONTRACTS GENERALLY / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 13-8-3. Gambling contracts.

(a) Gambling contracts are void; and all evidences of debt, except negotiable instruments in the hands of holders in due course or encumbrances or liens on property, executed upon a gambling consideration, are void in the hands of any person.

(b) Money paid or property delivered upon a gambling consideration may be recovered from the winner by the loser by institution of an action for the same within six months after the loss and, after the expiration of that time, by institution of an action by any person, at any time within four years, for the joint use of himself and the educational fund of the county.

## History

Laws 1764, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 725; Laws 1765, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 727; Code 1863, § 2717; Code 1868, § 2711; Code 1873, § 2753; Code 1882, § 2753; Civil Code 1895, § 3671; Civil Code 1910, § 4256; Ga. L. 1924, p. 126, § 57; Code 1933, § 20-505.

## Cross References

Gambling generally, § 16-12-20 et seq.

## Law Reviews

For note, ‘‘Recovery of Losses on Cotton Futures,’’ see 1 Ga. L. Rev. No. 1, p. 43 (1927). For note discussing organized crime in Georgia with respect to the application of state gambling laws, and suggesting proposals for combatting organized crime, see 7 Ga. St. B.J. 124 (1970).

For comment on Moore v. Atlantic Athletic Club, 79 Ga. App. 41, 52 S.E.2d 628 (1949), denying recovery to informer of money lost to slot machine, see 1 Mercer L. Rev. 314 (1950).