The North Pacific archipelago of Hawaii may be best known as an idyllic paradise, but ever since its unlawful overthrow by the U.S. government (for which an apology was issued) it has also served as a site for contentious operations that would rarely fly in the contiguous United States of America. Both federal agencies and private interests have leveraged the island chain’s isolation to conduct numerous experiments. For instance, the small Hawaiian island of Kaho’olawe which was once home to navigational training, religious ceremonies, and fishing among the Hawaiian peoples, was used for nuclear weapon target practice by the U.S. military for decades. 50 years of bombing has rendered immeasurable cultural and ecological destruction on the sacred site. Meanwhile, Hawaii remains to be a hotbed for genetically modified organism (GMO) field trials, with pesticide use being tied to a spike in birth defects in the state.
Simply stated, the remote and contained nature of America’s most paradisiacal destination makes it a proverbial petri dish for observation. And at press, another disruption to the ecosystem of the ʻāina and its people is flying in from the horizon – sports betting.
For many, Hawaii has been a place of refuge from the harms of problem gambling. It has held some of the most strict gambling laws, banning land-based casino gaming and sports betting as a means to mitigate crime and protect the mental health of a vulnerable population. But as of April 22, 2025, all signs point to the removal of a ban on sports betting and subsequent regulation of the activity. And while it seemed as if casino gaming was an afterthought after a bill to legalize it was halted earlier in 2025, the state House just passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 121, to create a working group to study the legalization of casinos.
Admittedly, there is a desperate need for state funding to address a wide number of social welfare issues in Hawaii. Supporters of regulated gambling point to its prospective tax revenue as a means to secure financial resources. However, Hawaii is an unfortunate position of being what may be the most vulnerable of all U.S. states when it comes to problem gambling and sports betting addiction. Understanding this, critics suggest that the introduction of sports betting to support social welfare is ironic. Is a net-positive result possible? When considering all that is laid out below it’s hard to envision a scenario that makes it so, not without equal (if not greater) investment in gambling addiction support services.
Note: Concerned residents, lawmakers, influencers, and all stakeholders in the Aloha State are encouraged to read ahead and share this article with everyone in their respective circles.
Overview of Hawaii’s Unique Vulnerability to Gambling Addiction and How Legal Sports Betting Inflates the Risk Among Vulnerable Residents
1. Highest Debt to Income Ratio in the USA
A recent report pulling data from the Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve has determined that Hawaii has the highest debt to income (DTI) ratio of any State in America. For every single dollar of income, Hawaii household have an average of 2.26 cents worth of debt. This is far from an anomaly, as Hawaii consistently ranks first in this unfortunate category.
Considering the statistics on debt and mental health (view here) and the direct relationship between debt and gambling (view here) vulnerable residents of Hawaii are placed at greater risk of financial despair.
1 in 5 sports bettors allot a quarter of their paycheck to sports betting
20% of sports bettors are in or have been in debt from the activity
Average male gambling / sports betting addict debt is between $55,000 and $90,000
2. An Already Established Underground
Hawaii’s underground gambling industry is far from a secret. Those who are unfamiliar will soon see it on the big screen via Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Hawaiian crime epic starring Dwayne Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Illegal gambling houses have operated with relative impunity for a decades, tucked into the dark recesses of Honolulu’s Chinatown and other communities throughout the state. While some brush it off as being relatively harmless, recent events have thrust it to the spotlight:
” ‘These games aren’t just some aunties playing mahjong. They’re not a bunch of uncles playing poker. This is a whole industry. And along with it comes the guns and drugs, just like we saw in the Kalihi bust and in the Halawa bust. These are really huge problems for our communities’ said Honolulu City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam” (KHON)
Illegal bookies also take wagers on sports by phone and by visiting local residents near their homes and places of employment in popular resort districts. When asked by a representative of Kindbridge about how they currently bet on sports, one of Waikiki’s famed Waikiki Beach Boys (name withheld) replied:
“Yeah, most of us have a bookie that comes around to collect our bets on the Super Bowl, March Madness, and other big games. It’s common, a part of the culture. We don’t even use those apps you have on the mainland.”
The underground is also online, though, as unregulated offshore sportsbooks have been accepting registrations and wagers from Hawaii residents for years. In fact, these same operators have taken bold steps to sponsor some of Hawaii’s most influential athletes as a means to reach their young adult audience. For instance, offshore sportsbook BetOnline (not permitted to operate in the USA) sponsors professional surfer and North Shore resident Nathan Florence to attract his half-million and growing YouTube subscribers. These operators see an opportunity not only to get young adult Hawaiians to bet on the major leagues, but to wager on surfing events such as the highly regarded Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational. This impressionable risk-taking action sports audience exhibits unique vulnerabilities to problem gambling (view more).
The big problem with Hawaii’s longstanding underground gambling scene from a mental health perspective, is that it has fostered an environment that is conducive to problematic behavior. They offer no self-exclusion tools, no integration of technologies to monitor for concerning behavior, and certainly do not provide their gambling base with access to mental health support services. So even if regulating sports betting it touted as a means to replace the illegal underground (a debatable tactic) the state is faced with a gambling population that has persisted for years without having the benefit of Responsible Gaming protections in place. They have already been groomed to be habitual and compulsive gamblers by illegal operators who have zero interest for their health. Opening the sports betting gates to already compromised individuals is problematic.
3. Largest Military Population in the United States
Hawaii has the largest proportion of military personnel compared to its total population among all U.S. states. Active military personnel and their dependents make up approximately 10% of the state’s population, while more than 8% of the adult civilian population in Hawaii are considered veterans. Given that the military controls more than 20% of the land area of Oahu (the most populated island) the percentage is greatest on the island known as The Gathering Place.
Why is this data relevant to the discussion about vulnerability to problem gambling and sports betting addiction in Hawaii? Numerous bodies of research confirm that the rate of problem gambling among the military is 3.5 times higher than among civilians. The state’s active military and veteran population has enough to contend with when it comes to behavioral health, so notable investment in support must point towards this population segment too.
4. Limited Gambling Addiction Resources
In addition to having the highest debt to income ratio in the entire United States, Hawaii’s Debt-to-GDP is currently 7.9%, which is higher than other U.S. states partly due to State funding of K through 12 education that is normally funded at the local level in other states. The Debt-to-GDP is projected to increase to 8.3% by 2030. While proponents of sports betting and casino gaming in Hawaii suggest that tax revenue from gambling will help alleviate state debt, the current and projected strain on funding indicates limited mental health resources to treat the gambling addiction in Hawaii, even with a standard reinvestment of gambling tax revenue.
Recent data from the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) reports that residents of Hawaii already struggle to get the help they need. Over half-a-million people in Hawaii live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals. Meanwhile, around 68% of Hawaii adults with a mental illness go without mental health treatment. The NAMI report also indicates that Hawaii residents are over 1.5x more likely to be forced out-of-network for mental health care than for primary health care. Of greater concern, is that Hawaii’s youth (the next generation of sports bettors) may have the greatest vulnerability to gambling addiction. NAMI indicates that 10,000 youth in Hawaii aged 12–17 have depression, and that nearly 70% of them do not receive any care for depression. How does this relate to gambling addiction in Hawaii? Numerous studies confirm that depression and problematic gambling behavior have a comorbid relationship.
Clearly, the state of Hawaii has a troubling lack of mental health resources available to residents, particularly for those in lower income communities such as Makaha and Waianae (Oahu) and Hilo (Big Island) among other zip codes. If residents have trouble accessing support from general clinicians, what are the odds of finding behavioral health support providers who are trained specifically in the effective treatment of gambling disorder and cooccurring issues?
Despite everything above, Hawaii sports betting legislation is likely to pass in 2025. And if the Senate Concurrent Resolution 121 study on gaming indicates that land-based casinos can operate at a net-positive over community harms, the state may see construction break ground on a casino, likely within Central Oahu’s New Aloha Stadium District, and possibly on the leeward side around Ko Olina, Kapolei.
Seeing what’s coming, Kindbridge has launched a first of its kind Hawaii Problem Gambling Treatment platform (view here). As America’s leading counseling service for sports betting addiction, Hawaii residents have a place to turn to for more accessible, confidential, and effective help to quit. Budget conscious residents will also be pleased to know that we offer direct billing due to our partnerships with leading insurance providers, including TriCare West for military households.
Sports Betting Addiction Treatment Covered by Insurance
Get Help for Sports Betting Addiction and Problem Gambling in Hawaii
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Call to Action for State Stakeholders
State regulators, lawmakers, educational institutions, and all other organizations who want help with research and the creation of custom problem gambling support strategies are also encouraged to connect to Kindbridge right away. The time to initiate support programs for Hawaii’s vulnerable communities has arrived. Click or tap the image below to contact a team member at Kindbridge.
