Gambling is illegal in Hawaii, but Las Vegas is only a plane ride away

On Sunday, Okihara and her friends Susan Akana and her husband Moses had just returned from a weeklong stay at the California Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas.

The Akanas like the Cal because it’s one of the few places in the tourist district that serves food from home. Susan Akana — who describes Las Vegas as an “adult Disneyland” — said it’s more comfortable staying downtown because they are surrounded by other Hawaii residents.

But the main draw for the trio is the gambling. They all recall the hours drifting by while on the casino floor or seated in front of a slot machine.

About 300,000 passengers have flown from Hawaii to Las Vegas in each of the last five years, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority. In 2019, before the pandemic, that number reached 335,488. The destination is so popular that it has become known as the “ninth island.”

Visitor spending in Las Vegas totaled $36.9 billion in 2019, the LVCVA says. It’s hard to say how much of that money comes from Hawaii residents because the agency said it doesn’t track that kind of data.
It’s also hard to say how much of that money would flow instead to Hawaii’s coffers if gambling were legal in the islands.

Hawaii and Utah are the only two states that have no form of legalized gambling.

Every year, the Hawaii Legislature sees a handful of bills seeking to change that with proposals ranging from a casino in Waikiki or on Native Hawaiian lands, a lottery, sports betting and even shipboard gambling. The debate seems most intense when the state is suffering budget shortfalls, as happened last year, making the millions of dollars in likely gambling revenues most attractive. But so far all efforts have failed.

This year, lawmakers may again consider some proposals that failed to gain traction last year such as measures to legalize sports betting or others to create a lottery system that could be used to fund public education. However, any gambling measures face slim chances of passing the Legislature, which has declined to advance those proposals in past sessions.