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Gambling Ban In Hawaii Drives Residents To Gamble In Las Vegas

Posted on April 5th, 2010

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Hawaii is one state in the US that does not have legal gambling in any form whatsoever. Hawaii, with a population of 1.2 million, is composed of eight islands, and locals dub Las Vegas their ninth island. The absence of gambling in the state has not deterred residents from crossing an ocean to seek entertainment in their ninth island. With no slots and card games to amuse them, Hawaiians travel to Las Vegas, making roughly 150,000 trips a year or around 3,000 trips a week.

Those who really enjoy gambling even take five or six trips each year. And some 80,000 people have decided to leave the islands and stay for good in Las Vegas, setting up residence in Sin City.

The total amount of gambling money spent by Hawaiians in Las Vegas casinos each year could probably reach $100 million, money that could have remained in Hawaii and benefited a state that’s currently struggling with a $1.2 billion budget shortfall and has no other option but to curb services. In view of this, many Hawaiians are of the opinion that gambling should be legalized in the state.

Supporters of gambling maintain that the good the public derives from gambling is a lot more than its negative upshots. They say children should be better informed on gambling and older citizens should be provided more support with the added income the state would get from gambling revenue, to address the issue of morality.

But sentiments of gambling critics run deep, perhaps as an offshoot of the 19th century Christian missionaries’ strict adherence to doctrine. Surfing, in which one enjoys riding the waves, was once disapproved of because it was considered wrong to have too much pleasure. A well-organized anti-gambling group in Hawaii, the Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling has two objectives, that is, to inform the public on legalized gambling’s negative consequences and to stop it from being established in the state.

It has been suggested to build one casino that would be controlled and monitored by the state. It would create jobs and would retain some of the citizens’ gambling money. The island of Oahu is the one most often visited by tourists from China and Korea and a recent survey disclosed that foreigners would be more apt to come back if gambling and more night entertainment existed there.

An editorial in a newspaper recently wrote the following: “Polls during the 1990s showed that a majority of Hawaii residents understand the negative consequences and oppose its legalization. In 2001, then-Gov. Ben Cayetano’s proposal to allow a single casino in Ko Olina was rejected by legislators. A bill two years ago to allow casino gambling to help pay for rapid transit was also cast aside. At some point, the advocates [of legal gambling] should tire of throwing the dice.” For now, Hawaiians will continue to travel to Sin City to gamble, while others will prefer to stay and gamble illegally in the islands.