Judge Milan D. Smith of the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled that the virtual play-money chips used in Big Fish’s Casino could be regarded as being “something of value,” and therefore.
Land-based gambling laws are listed in Section 712 of the Hawaii Statutes. Gambling is defined as betting something of value on a game of chance and is considered to be a misdemeanor under most circumstances. However, the law doesn’t mention online gambling and allows home games, which means that the legal status of iGaming is tricky to determine. In our opinion, the easiest way to settle this dispute is to consult the track record of the local police. As you’ve probably already guessed, no online players have been arrested or even charged up to this point, which means that playing on offshore sites is perfectly safe.
Hawaii Casinos
Casino games are illegal in Hawaii unless they’re enjoyed in a social setting with no one but the players benefitting from the action. Online games are no exception – engaging in internet play on any US-facing offshore site is classified as a misdemeanor. There have been several pushes to legalize casino games or internet gambling in Hawaii, but all of them failed.
Hawaii Poker
The Hawaii gambling prohibition doesn’t cover games of skill, but poker holds the same legal status as casino games due to a 1961 ruling of the Hawaii Supreme Court. The court noted that “the test of whether a game is one of skill or of chance or one in which skill greatly predominates over chance, is not to be measured by the standard of experts or any limited class of players, but by that of the average skill of a majority of players likely to play the game.” If you want to play poker legally in Hawaii, you’ll need to stick to live social games or social poker sites, such as Zynga Poker.
Hawaii Sports Betting
Unlike casino games or poker, sports betting isn’t legal even in a social context. Many of the states that enforce strict anti-gambling laws allow horse and dog race betting; however, this is not the case in Hawaii. Internet betting is illegal and classified as a misdemeanor.
Hawaii Daily Fantasy Sports
DFS sites often claim that paid DFS contests are 100% skill-based and therefore do not violate any laws in states that define gambling around the element of luck. In Hawaii, luck is an important part of the definition, which may lead some people to believe that participating in DFS contests is legal. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case – in January 2016, Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin released an opinion that explicitly defined DFS contests as illegal under Hawaiian law.
Consequently, Hawaii is a restricted state on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
Hawaii Lotteries
Hawaii is one of the five states that don’t run a state lottery. Over the years, there have been numerous legislative pushes to introduce this form of gambling to the state, but none of them were successful. In 2017, Rep. Souki Mizuno introduced a bill designed to establish a state lottery. The bill is currently stuck in the Hawaii House of Representatives and doesn’t seem likely to go any further.
Hawaii Bingo
Bingo enthusiasts shouldn’t expect any special treatment in Hawaii – local regulations don’t include any provisions allowing for charitable games. Thus, bingo is only permitted in a social context, and getting caught playing online results in misdemeanor charges.
Hawaii Online Gambling FAQ
What types of gambling are available in Hawaii?
Hawaii is a rather perplexing state – many locals admit to gambling online and offline, playing games of chance seems to be fairly popular and has a long tradition dating back to late 19th century and yet the state doesn’t have a regulated land-based gambling industry. There are no tribal casinos, no commercial casinos, no racetracks, no charity gambling, nothing, zip, nada. In fact, Hawaii is the only state that is similar to Utah in this regard.
What laws cover online gambling in Hawaii?
Playing games of chances for money and other related issues are regulated by Section 712 of the Hawaii Statutes. However, you should keep in mind that despite the fact that iGaming isn’t specifically mentioned in any of those regulations, the local law enforcement is free to assert that Hawaii laws do apply to online games. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that the authorities have never pursued this course of action, which means that online play in Hawaii is 100% safe.
Is real money online gambling legal in Hawaii?
iGaming isn’t explicitly forbidden by any of the local regulations, which means that joining the action on one of the US-friendly sites is perfectly safe despite the ambiguous legal status of this form of gambling.
Which offshore gambling sites accept Hawaii residents?
Offshore sites accept players from all iGaming-friendly states. Quite obviously, this also applies to Hawaii.
What are the most popular banking options supported by Hawaii -facing sites?
Most players agree that making a payment using a Visa credit or debit card is the best option. MasterCard and AmEx are also accepted by the vast majority of offshore sites. As you’d expect, cashing out is a little bit different, as most sites will simply send you a wire transfer whenever you decide that it’s time to withdraw your winnings.
Does Hawaii offer any intrastate online gambling?
No. Unlike to Delaware and New Jersey, Hawaii doesn’t have any regulated local gambling sites.
Is it likely for Hawaii to regulate online gambling?
No, it’d be very unlikely for Hawaii to introduce iGaming-friendly regulations in the years to come unless the local government feels pressured due to economic reasons.
Unlike most of the other US states, Illinois does address some of the issues pertaining to online gambling directly. Section 28 of the Illinois code mentions that it’s illegal for people staying in Illinois to operate unlicensed online gambling businesses. However, the law doesn’t list any punishments for participating in online games as a player, which is the reason why most experts agree that playing on offshore sites is perfectly legal for Illinois residents.
Illinois Casinos
Casino-style gambling in Illinois centers around ten riverboat casinos, including the Casino Queen or Hollywood Casino Aurora. They are all very similar in size and host more than 10,000 slot machines and 500 table games between them. Other than that, Illinois residents are free to use lottery terminals, which are similar to slots in gameplay and available in over 5,000 bars, restaurants, and drive-ins spread across the entire state. Online gambling is currently illegal, and playing on offshore sites that accept Illinois residents can put you in legal jeopardy. The new gambling bill (SB-0007) could potentially introduce state-sanctioned online casino games to Illinois, but nothing is set in stone yet.
Three of the riverboat casinos (Argosy and both Hollywood casinos) offer play money social gambling options on their websites. All of those casinos are owned by Penn National Gaming.
Illinois Poker
Illinois is home to 14 live poker rooms. Some of these are located on the commercial riverboats (Grand Victoria, Pair-a-Dice), while others operate as charitable gambling venues (Chicagoland Charity Poker, Chicago Charitable Games). None of the local venues are allowed to operate real money poker sites, but this might change in the future depending on the final shape of bill SB-0007. Playing on offshore sites is just as illegal as playing casino games on those platforms and may result in class A misdemeanor charges.
Illinois Sports Betting
Sports betting is currently illegal in Illinois, but this is very likely to change if bill SB-0007 is passed. Horse race betting has been legal since the 1920s and is available at five of the local racetracks and 37 licensed off-track betting venues. State-sanctioned online betting might become available if lawmakers decide to introduce online gambling to the state, but it’s way far early to discuss any specific provisions. Engaging in sports betting via offshore sportsbooks is illegal, although many of those platforms accept Illinois residents.
Illinois Daily Fantasy Sports
According to the most recent opinion issued by Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan in 2015, DFS contests should be considered illegal in Illinois. This is because the state’s regulations don’t differentiate between games of skill and games of chance when determining whether something constitutes illegal gambling. However, both FanDuel and DraftKings offer their services to Prairie State residents and deny the allegations that what they’re doing is illegal.
Fantasy Draft and Yahoo DFS also haven’t put Illinois on their lists of restricted states. Illinois lawmakers have been attempting to resolve this situation by passing DFS-friendly legislation. Should they fail to include such provisions in bill SB-0007, or should SB-0007 fail to pass, the situation will likely be resolved with a lawsuit, which DFS companies are almost guaranteed to lose.
Illinois Lotteries
The Illinois lottery was founded in 1974 and began selling tickets for Powerball and Mega Millions in 2010. Aside from standard and multi-state draw games, it also provides instant games and raffles. Illinois residents are free to purchase their tickets online, and the lottery even offers some promotions for returning customers. Participating in lottery games hosted in a different country via an online lottery concierge service likely constitutes a violation of the state’s local gambling laws.
Illinois Bingo
There are no state-sanctioned bingo sites operating in Illinois, where live bingo is considered a charitable game. Playing on offshore bingo sites that accept Illinois residents is just as illegal as playing on unlicensed poker and casino sites, and it may expose you to class A misdemeanor charges.
Illinois Online Gambling FAQ
What types of gambling are available in IL?
Illinois is considered to be a rather gambling-friendly state, which should as no surprise since the local law allows all the popular forms of gambling. The local casinos include two Harrah’s properties and are spread over different counties. Illinois doesn’t have any noteworthy regulations limiting the availability of certain games, so you’ll be able to try anything ranging from slots to poker there. Other than that, the state allows pari-mutuel horse race betting and operates a lottery, which is allowed to sell tickets online. Other than that, Illinois doesn’t have a regulated online gambling industry.
What laws cover online gambling in IL?
Gambling in Illinois is covered by Section 28 of the Illinois code. It’s worth pointing out that while some of the Illinois laws do refer to internet gambling, there are no regulations that prohibit individual players from participating in unlicensed games, which makes it next to impossible to prosecute gambling enthusiasts that stick to offshore sites.
Is real money online gambling legal in IL?
Yes, there are no regulations prohibiting Illinois residents from playing on offshore sites, which means that this form of gambling is perfectly legal.
Which offshore gambling sites accept IL residents?
There are no restrictions for Illinois-based gamblers when it comes to joining offshore iGaming sites. All the major operators accept Illinois residents.
Is Playing The Casino Online Illegal Play
What are the most popular banking options supported by Illinois-facing sites?
Is Playing The Casino Online Illegal Games
Most offshore sites don’t give you many deposit options to choose from, which is exactly why the vast majority of Illinois players sticks to standard credit and debit cards, such as MasterCard or Visa. Please note that this method is unavailable when it comes to withdrawals, as most offshore operators prefer to rely on wire transfers for this purpose.
Does IL offer any intrastate online gambling?
Illinois doesn’t permit any intrastate online gambling aside from the state-run lottery ticket sales.
Is it likely for IL to regulate online gambling?
Yes. Illinois has already introduced an online gambling bill, which has been approved by the Senate Committee.