Introducing Myself to the Forum

After being a long time reader of Wizard of Vegas forum and a big fan of The Wizard of Odds website, I have decided to finally join the fun.

Since I live in Hawaii, people are always asking me, "If you live in paradise, where do you go for vacation?". The answer is, "Las Vegas!"

Hawaii has no legal form of gambling. I believe we are the only state other then Utah where this is the case, though I may be wrong. Each year, tens of thousands of Hawaii residents make their annual pilgrimage to the California Hotel and Casino, affectionately known as the 9th Island. And people from Hawaii don't mess around when it comes to gambling. Much to the delight of the casino, we are known for putting in long hours of action.

Personally, I have to admit that I stayed in Downtown Las Vegas only once, and found that I enjoy staying on the Strip much more. I only get to Las Vegas maybe once or twice per year, and most recently having been staying at the Mandalay Bay.

I saw that the Wizard visited Oahu about a year ago, and wish I had known that. If any of you make it out this way, I will be happy to buy you a drink. Likewise, I hope to meet some of you the next time I am in Vegas.

Aloha - Jeff Uyemura-Reyes

Welcome to the forum. If you have been reading this site regularly, you may have noticed the Casino Chip of the Day thread that I started. When I posted an image of a chip from the California, I mentioned the Hawaii connection. I suggested that they had cornered the Hawaiian market for Las Vegas, but it looks as if MGM Resorts lured you away.

Welcome to the forum. Where in Hawaii are you from? When I was last on the Big Island I asked about the gambling scene there. Somebody mentioned they like gambling on cock fights.

Recently I saw an interview of Woody Harelson, who lives on Maui now. They said he has legendary poker and domino games at his house.

When I was last in Honolulu I saw a lot of gambling on some picnic tables in Chinatown.

Hi Doc,

Big fan of the Chip of the Day thread. I am amazed by how many casino chips you have collected over the years.

Yes, Boyd Gaming has cornered the Hawaii market. The California Hotel and Main Street Station seem to be their two busiest properties in terms of Hawaii visitors. I have stayed at Main Street Station once before, and found it to be clean and comfortable. However, when I go to Vegas, I would rather be on the Strip with the newer properties. Yes, MGM has lured me away. I would say that Caesars tried to do the same, but since I enjoy table games more, I have found the MGM to be better in terms of comps.

Wizard, I actually live on the island of Oahu.

Let me stress that there is no *legal* form of gambling in the Hawaiian Islands. That being said, Hawaii has a high percentage of Asians and Polynesians living here. I would argue that culturally, these two ethnic groups have fewer negative sterotypes about gambling then others may have. Heck, if you go to Macau you will see people from Hong Kong and mainland China gambling *huge* sums of money in comparison to their annual income on single hands of baccarat.

Several military bases did offer bingo with small prizes. It was run by the military recreation department and you would get dinner and a couple of bingo cards for a set price. You were allowed to buy additional cards if you wanted to. This had been going on for about 20+ years. However, about a year ago there were a couple of complaints and concerns raised that this was gambling. The Honolulu police department stated that they couldn't really do anything about it, since it was on federal land. They did state that bingo was illegal in Hawaii. The military temporarily suspended all bingo as the matter went internal review. As far as I understand it, the review is ongoing.

Every few years, some local politician makes a proposal to build a casino in Hawaii. It would probably be great for the economy, but each year the idea gets shot down. Probably the Boyd Gaming lobbyist in action behind the scene.

I think this is the biggest reason why Vegas is so popular with Hawaii residents. Hawaii people love their gambling and since we can't get it on the islands, they go crazy while in Vegas.

Quote: Juyemura

Hawaii has no legal form of gambling. I believe we are the only state other then Utah where this is the case, though I may be wrong. Each year, tens of thousands of Hawaii residents make their annual pilgrimage to the California Hotel and Casino, affectionately known as the 9th Island. And people from Hawaii don't mess around when it comes to gambling. Much to the delight of the casino, we are known for putting in long hours of action.

Aloha - Jeff Uyemura-Reyes

Hawaii and Utah are the only two states with no legal gambling, not even for charity. Utah obviously has the Mormon population. Since Hawaii has the largest percentage of Asians of any state in the USA, I must assume that the state government is being paternal, as they are afraid of the social cost. I remember that Hilton originally built the complex on the north shore because they were anticipating the legalization of gambling there.

There are five other states without state lotteries. Alaska, Wyoming, Alabama, Mississippi, and Nevada.

Hawaiians made Boyd into a billionaire, but I never saw any young people at the California.

Quote: pacomartin

Hawaii and Utah are the only two states with no legal gambling,

There are about 75,000 Mormons in Hawaii
and they've had a presence there for a very
long time. They have their fingers in everything,
its no coincidence that Utah and Hawaii don't
have gambling.

Quote: EvenBob

There are about 75,000 Mormons in Hawaii and they've had a presence there for a very long time. They have their fingers in everything,

While I know that Mormons are very against gambling in any form (including charitable) that is still a relatively small percentage of the population of Hawaii. While they may have strong political influence, there must be other very vocal groups in Hawaii that are also against gambling.

These are the 9 large counties in the USA that have the smallest percentage of non-Latino white people.

3.3% Webb County, TX 250,304 (Laredo)
7.8% Hidalgo County, TX 774,769 (The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission)
10.9% Bronx County, NY 1,385,108
13.1% El Paso County, TX 800,647
13.7% Imperial County, CA 174,528
14.1% Clayton County, GA 259,424
14.9% Prince George's County, MD 863,420 (Washington DC)
15.4% Miami-Dade County, FL 2,496,435
19.1% Honolulu County, HI 953,207

Mormons have a strong presence on Oahu, they're
everywhere. A lot of native Hawaiians are Mormon.
When I lived there, I would see the guys on their bikes
with their white shirts and ties all the time. Very nice,
and persistent.

According to the Church of Latter Day Saints, linked here, there are 69,872 church members and 134 congregations in the state of Hawaii. This represents 5% of the total population of 1.375 million.

It is ironic that Mormons, who do not condone gambling for their brethren, have in fact made many millions of dollars bankrolling the development and expansion of casinos in Las Vegas.

They had no qualms about doing business with the Mob.

google "E. Parry Thomas."

Quote: Juyemura

If any of you make it out this way, I will be happy to buy you a drink. Likewise, I hope to meet some of you the next time I am in Vegas.

Welcome to the forum.

When do you expect to be in vegas? If you're coming in May, a few of us will be getting togetehr on May 12th at the Four Queens hotel in Downtown for lunch and gambling, and you're certainly welcome to join us. We call this modest gathering WoVCon ][ (WovCon I was held last June).

I would like to visit Hawaii someday, but it's not a high priority for me :(