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Hawaiian police have shuttered various illegal poker rooms in Oahu and arrested 35 individuals Monday. More arrests are anticipated.
Hawaii is one of only two US states – the other being Utah – that ban all forms of gambling including lotteries.
“Game rooms affect people of all ages and social economic levels. We sometimes hear people say that gambling is harmless form of entertainment, however we know that game rooms are often the hubs of illegal activity such as drug dealing, robberies, assaults and homicides have been associated with game rooms,” said Major Larry Lawson of Honolulu Police District’s (HPD) criminal investigation division, according to the news report.
Some 100 illegal card rooms and gambling parlors had been warned prior to the raids.
This is one of the biggest actions of its kind targeting illegal gambling in the island state. In 2012, authorities arrested at least nine persons playing poker inside a residential house. Police slapped the host with charges of second degree gambling promotion and possession of a gambling device.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
