Honolulu is taking steps to curb illegal Hawaii gambling, but efforts have only produced a resolution and task force so far.
The island state and its largest city have turned away regulated gaming options, including Hawaii sports betting, lottery plays, and casinos. The gambling ban produced unintended results, however. City leaders are still trying to work out the logistics of Bill 57 and Bill 58 to deal with the Hawaii betting underground.
Mililani resident Sheryl Bieler told Hawaii News Now that island governments aren’t looking at the bigger issue.
“The problem is: Gaming will always exist. Whether it’s bingo, cardrooms or chicken fights, people will find a way. We need to make a concerted effort to somehow legalize it and have oversight of it.”
Honolulu Creates Resolution 143 to Fight Illegal Hawaii Gambling
Honolulu leaders don’t have the authority to bring legalized gambling to Hawaii, but they hope Resolution 143 will be the first step in making their neighborhoods safer. Council members Tommy Waters and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam introduced the resolution on May 17, 2024. The Honolulu City Council approved the measure on July 10, 2024.
It creates a five-member illegal gaming prevention task force that includes:
- A Honolulu police officer
- Someone from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
- Two council members and
- A member of the Department of Planning and Permitting.
The task force now has 90 days to submit a written recommendation to the council on how to address illegal gambling.
Its members could explore the plausibility of Bills 57 and 58. The proposals would give the Department of Planning and Permitting more authority to pursue landlords of illegal cardrooms. Stiffer penalties would back city prosecutions as they try gambling cases in court.
Bill 57 designates “electronic or coin-operated gambling devices” as nuisances. The designation would give the city authority to fine illegal cardroom landlords $1,000 a day and up to $150,000.
Bill 58 allows police to serve violation notices for building codes, fire codes, and land use ordinance violations. In essence, police have a hard time building an efficient case to prove illegal gambling activity, but building code violations could streamline the process and produce the same outcome.
Illegal Game Rooms Are Like Weeds — They Keep Popping Up
Honolulu Police Department Maj. Mike Lambert said 100 illegal game rooms are operating on O’ahu at any given moment. He told Honolulu Council members:
“Exposed wiring is probably one of the most common dangerous violations that we see. For example, you could have anywhere (up to) 16 devices in a room. Most places aren’t wired for that many large electronics, so a lot of it is makeshift.”
The Honolulu Police Department seizes about 500 gambling machines every year. Officers conducted 30 search warrants to crack down on illegal Hawaii gambling in 2023.
But, as station KITV’s Robert Baun notes, “Even when authorities are called in to shut down a gaming site, usually it is not long until they reopen somewhere else — if not in the same location.”
“When the game room shut down, we did notice that the street was a little quieter,” Kalihi Uka Elementary School Principal Derek Santos told Baun in his KITV report. The school administrator noticed a change when police shut down two game rooms near the school property.
Fewer people were loitering outside. School staff members and students saw fewer distractions and fighting.
“The drug deals under the tree stopped after the game rooms went away,” Santos said.
Bills 57 and 58 Have Stalled
Dos Santos-Tam helped introduce Bills 57 and 58 in September 2023. He’s also made public appearances to highlight Hawaii’s betting underground.
“Over the past six months since this bill has been introduced, we’ve had a shooting here at this game room right behind me,” Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam said in an on-scene interview with Hawaii News Now. “It’s now been closed, thank goodness.”
Ala Monana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board Chairman Kathleen Lee and Makiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Ian Ross also talked with Hawaii News Now about the issue.
“I hope the council realizes how important it is to their constituents,” Lee said. “It seems like that’s what is happening right now.”
“This is how we can make our community safer,” Makiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Ian Ross said.
Zoning Committee Chair Calvin Say credits the neighborhood activism for moving the discussion forward, but he also said the Honolulu City Council needed guidance to draft an effective anti-gambling policy.
“The reality is, we need to take action. We need to move ideas like this forward,” Dos Santos-Tam said.
In a May industry report, the American Gaming Association said the legal commercial casino sector grew by 10.3 percent to nearly $66.7 billion in 2023.
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