According to newly-released statistics from the Honolulu Police Department, gambling arrests at clandestine casinos, card games and cockfights, quadrupled over the past three years in Honolulu.
The number of arrests rode dramatically from 58 in 2003 to 239 in 2005. The number includes misdemeanor arrests for various gaming related offences, including promotion of gambling, possession of a cockfighting gaff and cruelty to animals.
The rise comes without any corresponding increase in police staff or emphasis on illegal gambling law enforcement, leading police to attribute the higher numbers to a rise in types of gambling available. It has also been suggested that the recent arrival of internet gambling and televised poker matches has removed many negative stereotypes connected with gambling and thus opened the gaming arena to a wider audience.
Hawaii, along with Utah are the only two states that outlaw organized gambling in any form, including lotteries and casino games, although social gambling in private homes is permitted.
Lt. Walter Ozeki, supervisor of HPD's 10-man gambling force estimates that the most common form of betting is sports bookmaking, along with a large amount of internet gambling, however the true extent is unknown.
According to the American Gaming Association, over 2,000 gambling sites on the internet offer casino games, bingo, lotteries and sports betting. Last year's estimated internet gambling revenue came to almost $12 billion, around half of that from the US, with the figure projected to double by the end of the decade.
|
