State police seized two video gambling machines in Horry County as part of a 10-county sweep of 500 businesses this weekend.

Two Chess Challenge II machines were seized Saturday in Horry County and one in Lexington County. The search for the games came after a week of fighting about whether the machines are illegal gambling devices.

Information on the Horry County seizures was unavailable late Sunday.

On Friday, the state Supreme Court issued a temporary order overturning a lower court ruling that the games were legal.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said they were subject to seizure.

SLED estimated that there were about 2,000 of the games in the state last week. Stewart said businesses had called all week asking if the games were legal.

"They began leaving the state over the last few days," Stewart said. "It appears there was a mass exodus.

"Obviously, in anticipation of possible Supreme Court action, the businesses chose to remove their machines rather than risk losing their investment."

South Carolina outlawed video gambling in 2000.