HawaiiEvery product class, in fixed taxonomy order. The band is what you can do; where the recorded legal status says something the band does not, it is shown beside the product.
Class-level certainty is graded for 19 of 20 classes.
Hawaii remains one of two U.S. states with a total gambling prohibition; 2026 legislative momentum on sports betting has not yet resulted in enactment.
The weather grades favourability for an operator, not legality: legality is the product table above. The left rule is our confidence: solid confirmed, dashed probable, dotted uncertain.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned narrative field; research stage emits structured claims only.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
No licensing regime exists; no fee schedule applies.
No legal gambling tax regime exists under current law; HB 2570 (not enacted) proposed a 15% GGR tax.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
Enforcement is the most active dimension of Hawaii's gambling landscape this cycle. The Honolulu Police Department's Narcotics/Vice Division has sustained a rapid cadence of illegal-gambling search warrants through 2026, reaching its sixteenth warrant of the year by a May 20 raid on a McCully-area o…
Enforcement is the most active dimension of Hawaii's gambling landscape this cycle. The Honolulu Police Department's Narcotics/Vice Division has sustained a rapid cadence of illegal-gambling search warrants through 2026, reaching its sixteenth warrant of the year by a May 20 raid on a McCully-area operation, and continuing into a July 30 raid that yielded eleven devices and over $3,500 in cash with two arrests. Running alongside this criminal track, Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting has pursued a civil and property-based enforcement programme under the 2024 Act 249 landlord-liability regime, targeting 34 properties, issuing approximately 50 violation notices, raiding 30 game rooms, seizing 451 devices, and bringing four individuals to criminal charge in 2026 to date. This civil track is mixed in durability: it rests on a durable 2024 statute but is executed through administrative and civil process against property owners rather than direct prosecution of operators. Layered on top is SB 3281, which passed the Senate unanimously and was House-amended before being returned for Senate concurrence, with final enactment unconfirmed as of session close; if enacted it would expand the criminal and civil toolkit available against illegal electronic gambling devices.
PLACEHOLDER — composer-owned.
4 red flags (2 high, 1 medium) and 0 controls that address them.
5 entry scenarios, each with the move we would make.
Prohibited outright under HRS §712-1223; no licensing pathway exists regardless of the operator's out-of-state or offshore licensure status.
Do this: Do not launch; monitor 2026-27 legislative outcomes (HB 2570) before any market-entry planning.
Sources Available to subscribersLikely lawful provided a genuine no-purchase-necessary free-entry path exists and Sweeps Coins are not treated as direct cash-wagering proceeds, avoiding the 'consideration' element of HRS §712-1220.
Do this: Structure carefully around the consideration element; monitor for potential future legislative closure of this channel.
Sources Available to subscribersThe Hawaii Attorney General concluded in 2016 that DFS constitutes illegal gambling under the plain meaning of the statute; no subsequent legislative change has altered this.
Do this: Treat DFS as prohibited in Hawaii notwithstanding continued de facto access by residents.
Sources Available to subscribersMay qualify for the 'social gambling' affirmative defense under HRS §712-1231 if all five statutory conditions are met (equal terms, no profiting beyond winnings, not at an enumerated commercial venue, no minors, not bookmaking).
Do this: Confirm all five conditions are satisfied; the defense is an affirmative defense, not a blanket exemption, and is assessed case-by-case.
Sources Available to subscribersHRS §712-1222.5 makes promoting gambling aboard ships a class C felony generally, but includes a transit exemption for travel to/from foreign nations or other states/territories through the point of first/final entry/exit from state waters.
Do this: Confirm the vessel's gaming operations are strictly confined to the statutory transit exemption window; intrastate-only cruises do not qualify.
Sources Available to subscribersConfirmed absence is a finding of its own. These are the questions we searched and could not answer from a citable source, with the searches we ran. Never behind the paywall.
Every source on a four-step tier scale. A claim is never shown at a stronger tier than the source it cites.