Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712-1231
Social gambling; definition and specific conditions, affirmative defense
Hawaii · Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 712 — Offenses Against Public Health and Morals · Status: effective
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- Citation
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 712-1231, Social gambling; definition and specific conditions, affirmative defense, Hawaii, version 1 as recorded 2026-10-03, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/2430865
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Full text
(a) Definition. "Social gambling" means gambling in which all of the following conditions are present:
(1) Players compete on equal terms with each other; and
(2) No player receives, or becomes entitled to receive, anything of value or any profit, directly or indirectly, other than the player's personal gambling winnings; and
(3) No other person, corporation, unincorporated association, or entity receives or becomes entitled to receive, anything of value or any profit, directly or indirectly, from any source, including but not limited to permitting the use of premises, supplying refreshments, food, drinks, service, lodging or entertainment; and
(4) It is not conducted or played in or at a hotel, motel, bar, nightclub, cocktail lounge, restaurant, massage parlor, billiard parlor, or any business establishment of any kind, public parks, public buildings, public beaches, school grounds, churches or any other public area; and
(5) None of the players is below the age of majority; and
(6) The gambling activity is not bookmaking.
(b) Affirmative defense:
(1) In any prosecution for an offense described in [section] 712-1223, 712-1224, 712-1225 or 712-1226, a defendant may assert the affirmative defense that the gambling activity in question was a social gambling game as defined in [section] 712-1231(a).
(2) If the defendant asserts the affirmative defense, the defendant shall have the burden of going forward with evidence to prove the facts constituting such defense unless such facts are supplied by the testimony of the prosecuting witness or circumstance in such testimony, and of proving such facts by a preponderance of evidence.
(c) In any prosecution for an offense described in this part the fact that the gambling activity involved was other than a social gambling game shall not be an element of the offense to be proved by the prosecution in making out its prima facie case.