We were surprised by last week’s Progress Poll.

We were surprised by the low number of votes. For an issue that was once the hottest topic in South Carolina, this week’s poll measured an approximate “yawn” on the interest scale.

We were also surprised by the results.

We asked our readers if the state of South Carolina should consider re-instating video poker gaming in order to draw increased tax revenue to help balance the budget.

A slight majority — 53 percent — voted that video poker should be legalized.

We were also surprised by the few responses we received.

One voter who voted ‘yes’ had little sympathy for those who develop gambling addiction due to the poker machines.

“If somebody wants to throw their paycheck away so that my taxes will remain low, I’m all for it!” the reader wrote.

Another said the machines should be legalized because we claim to be a free country.

“In a truly free country, the government does not attempt to protect you from your own weaknesses,” the voter wrote. “Such attempts always fail. If somebody is losing their money gambling, they’ll just find another way to waste it when gambling is illegal.”

Another voter said the state needs to be looking at all options right now.

“We’re running out of choices,” the voter wrote. “Higher property taxes hurts the elderly who have worked throughout their lives to own their homes. Higher sales taxes hurt the economy, which eventually decreases total tax revenue. We need to be open to anything.”

On the negative side, one voter said legalizing video poker is approaching the problem from the wrong end.

“The answer is to decrease spending, not to increase tax revenue,” the voter wrote. “If you decrease government spending, you don’t have to find new ways to take private money.”

Another questioned whether legalizing video poker would actually lead to a net increase in tax revenue.

“Sure, we would get more tax dollars,” the voter wrote. “But there would also be some government cost — regulating the machines, enforcing the laws and giving welfare to the victims of the machines.”

Another reader had switched sides on the issue.

“I was against banning the video poker machines in the first place, but I’m against legalizing them now,” the voter wrote. “We are getting along fine without those machines, so why mess with a good thing. Cut spending to balance the budget.”