Short Summary: Hawaii is the second most restrictive state when it comes to its gaming laws. The only state that is more restrictive is Utah, and that’s because they went out of their way to specifically outlaw Internet Gaming, even though the verbiage of the law already had that covered. Hawaii has no specifically legalized and regulated form of gambling whatsoever.
There were certain attempts to legalize sports betting, but all of those Bills were killed along the way.
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I will now list all of the forms of gambling that are legalized and regulated in your state:
END OF LIST
Nothing is legal. No casinos. NO lottery. No charitable gambling. No social gambling. No bingo. No tribal casinos because there are no tribes. Nothing.
You do have two casino cruise ships that sail into International waters out of Honolulu, so I suppose that is slightly better than having to travel all the way to the mainland.
It’s only surprising to me because the state is so beautiful and it is already a tremendous tourist destination. I can only imagine how many tourists, both from within the United States and foreigners would take Hawaii over Las Vegas in a heartbeat if Honolulu just had one or two casinos.
Hawaii remains one of only two states, with the other being Utah, to have no legalized forms of gambling whatsoever. There continue to be bills drafted that would allow for casinos and sports betting, but all such bills die a quick Legislative death without ever making it to a vote.
We would think that Hawaii’s prospects for legalized online casinos are extremely unlikely, but it might get around to authorizing online sportsbooks within a few years. However, even if it does, it’s tough to tell whether or not any of the operators in other states would have any interest in opening an online sportsbook in a state with such a small population, as we see in states such as Delaware, where online sports betting is actually legal, but there are not any operators.
Another question that remains is: Even if Hawaii did authorize for sports betting, who would be in charge of regulating it? In states without any land casinos, the answer would normally be the lottery department or racing commission, but Hawaii does not have either of those things as they do not have a state lottery, and also, do not have any racetracks. It would be difficult to imagine that the state would create a totally new department that does nothing other than regulating online sports betting, though we suppose it’s technically possible.
In the meantime, all bills that relate to gambling seem not to make it out of committee, so I guess the state would need to get a bill out of committee before they even begin to worry about the finer points of regulation.
In the meantime, there are plenty of offshore websites that offer their online casinos to residents of the Aloha State, so you can check out some of our top picks located in the section above!
A cursory reading of 712-1220 (4) & (5) will show:
4) “Gambling. A person engages in gambling if he stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome. Gambling does not include bona fide business transactions valid under the law of contracts, including but not limited to contracts for the purchase or sale at a future date of securities or commodities, and agreements to compensate for loss caused by the happening of chance, including but not limited to contracts of indemnity or guaranty and life, health, or accident insurance.”
(5) “Gambling device means any device, machine, paraphernalia, or equipment that is used or usable in the playing phases of any gambling activity, whether that activity consists of gambling between persons or gambling by a person involving the playing of a machine.”
Anything related to the gambling laws would seem to apply both to the player as well as anyone acting as an operator. The good news is that gambling is a petty misdemeanor.
There have been cases in Hawaii in which illegal gambling apparatuses have been seized and arrests made, but all of these incidents have had to do with some type of physical location gambling taking place.
From what we can tell, no player has ever been arrested, fined or punished in anyway for gambling online from his/her own home, and as with other states, we do not believe that will ever happen. If it’s one of the three days a year that your weather isn’t absolutely gorgeous and you want to fire up the computer and visit one of the many online casinos out there, you should be fine.
There are two casino cruise ships that both depart from Honolulu at appointed times, sail a few miles out until they are constituted to be in international waters and then open all of the games up for players. When the gambling day is done, they shut everything down and sail back in.
The first of these is the Carnival Legend Casino, which sails out daily and features 125 gaming machines and fourteen table games. Players should be warned that these sorts of casinos are essentially not at all regulated, by anybody, and almost Universally have terrible returns on the machines and some of the worst table rules possible. There are rare exceptions, but you should expect the rules to be bad. The slots will probably be the lowest return that the manufacturer even produces on the games.
The other one is the Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of Hawaii. Hawaii is an absolutely gorgeous place with a storied history, but if you ask Norwegian Cruise Lines, their little casino cruise ship is Hawaii’s, “Pride,” apparently. This casino has a wide variety of Table Games and apparently a few more slots than the other.
Not only are slot machines illegal to play anywhere in Hawaii, it’s illegal to own one. You aren’t allowed to have one in your home or anywhere else for entertainment or any other purpose.
Some states allow you to own a slot machine if it’s collectable and/or antique. Usually, a machine has to be at least 25 years old to qualify in these states. Hawaii doesn’t allow antique slot machines either.
Other states that prohibit all slot machine ownership include Tennessee.
Table games like blackjack and craps are also outlawed anywhere in Hawaii.
Any type of sports betting or wagering is illegal in Hawaii. You can probably find people to place a “friendly” wager with but in doing so you are technically breaking the law.
Speaking of law, the history of sports betting legalization in Hawaii is the least to say turbulent and unfortunate. As mentioned earlier, all the attempts to regulate this activity failed, leaving the residents of The Aloha State without any locally legal options to gamble.
In 2020, two bills HB 1107, and SB 2571 both died in their respective committees. HB 1107 was supposed to enable the establishment of Hawaii Sports Wagering Corporation, whereas SB 2571 would have been in charge of forming a task force to examine how much money sports betting could bring to the state of Hawaii.
Two years later, in 2022, the Bill HB 1973 which specified that sports betting shouldn’t be classified as game of chance or gambling didn’t gain much . The same happened to HB 1962, which should have enabled the legalization of casino gambling.
What’s even more, HB 1815, which was supposed to ister and regulate sports betting in the state died as well. The legislative season of 2023 ended without ing a HB 344, and HB 2765 had the same destiny in 2024.
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44 states have some sort of state lottery and many states participate in the Powerball and Mega Millions. Hawaii not only doesn’t participate in the Mega Millions or Powerball, they also don’t have a state lottery.
One of the main theories about why there isn’t a lottery in Hawaii is because of the complete ban on any type of wagering the state doesn’t feel there’s any competition. If people aren’t spending their money on other lotteries or forms of gambling the state doesn’t need to run a lottery to make sure they get their fair share of the profits.
You can’t legally participate in a poker game in Hawaii so there aren’t any legal poker rooms.
Home games are supposedly available, but unlike in some parts of the United States, these games are also illegal. While law enforcement usually has more important things to do than look to bust a home poker game, the law is clear. Playing poker, even in your own home, in Hawaii is illegal
Pari-Mutuel racing is usually associated with horse and/or dog racing. The difference between most forms of gambling and pari-mutuel racing is when you’re gambling in most games you play against the house. In a pari-mutuel event, all of the money wagered is collected, a small percentage is kept by the track, and the rest is paid out to the winning bettors.
Horse racing is the one gambling area where you may see a form of legalized gaming in Hawaii eventually. But don’t count on it happening any time soon.
Hawaii had horse racing until some time in the 1950’s and there’re thousands of horses on the islands.
Celebrating US independence, every fourth of July the Parker Ranch in Kamuela hosts a day of rodeo competitions and thoroughbred horse racing. While watching the race is permitted, placing wagers on it is illegal and strictly prohibited.
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Hawaii’s gambling landscape is one of the most restrictive in the United States. The state stands alongside Utah as the only state to explicitly outlaw all forms of gambling, including casinos, lotteries, and even social or charitable games.
Despite being a prime tourist destination, efforts to introduce sports betting or casinos have consistently failed, with proposed bills repeatedly dying in committee.
The only gambling options available to residents and visitors are two casino cruise ships that operate in international waters off Honolulu. While providing some gaming opportunities, these enterprises lack regulation and often feature unfavorable odds.
In Hawaii, owning or playing slot machines or table games like blackjack and craps is illegal, and even home poker games fall under this prohibition.
While online gambling remains unregulated, residents appear to gamble on the Internet without facing legal repercussions, as there have been no reported arrests for online activities.
However, the lack of a formal regulatory structure raises concerns about the future of any potential gambling legislation. Overall, Hawaii’s stringent gambling laws reflect a long-standing cultural and legal resistance to gambling, leaving residents with limited options and no legal betting or gaming operators.
