Hawaii Cracks Down on Poker Games

It’s already one of the strictest states in the USA when it comes to gambling of any sort – only Utah vying for that dubious honour – but now Hawaii has decided to be even more pro-active in its enforcement of gambling laws with Honolulu police set to crack down on illegal poker rooms.

“Game rooms affect people of all ages and social economic levels,” the Honolulu Police Department said recently, Kitv.com reporting the official as saying: “We sometimes hear people say that gambling is harmless form of entertainment, however we know that game rooms are often the hubs of illegal activity.”

“Drug dealing, robberies, assaults and homicides have been associated with game rooms," said Major Larry Lawson in HPD's criminal investigation division said, police arresting 35 people on gambling-related charges alone since last month.

As Pokerlaws.org state: ‘Hawaii is one of only two states in the United States, with the other one being Utah, that makes gambling illegal period, other than social gambling.’

They add that: ‘They don’t have any poker rooms, they don’t have any casinos, they don’t have pari-mutuel betting, they don’t even have a lottery. In other words there is no regulated gambling in Hawaii whatsoever.’

Their detailed look at the Hawaiian regulations find that the laws ‘would permit home games being played for money as long as no one is charging for the play, and as long as the gambling occurs in a private setting, and not in a business establishment or public place.’

Recent raids on the island have focused on urban Honolulu but police have told Hawaii’s ‘Island News’ that they plan to target gambling parlors island-wide in the weeks and months to come.

Online poker is also ‘banned’, in the same way as all other states except for Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey, but the Hawaiian authorities are exclusively focused on live gambling.

Despite the crackdown and illegality of underground poker games among other activities, Cardplayer.com reports that: ‘Hawaiians bought into bracelet events this past summer a combined 527 times, putting it 32nd among U.S. states,’ adding that: ‘Given its lack of casinos, it’s been a bit of a head-scratcher when some lawmakers there have flirted with the idea of pushing an online gambling bill.’