Find Your Favorite Hawaii Casinos and Resorts 2026

Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places on earth and one of the most restrictive when it comes to gambling. There is no legal way to place a bet in the state, not at a casino, not on your phone, not on a lottery ticket. For gamblers, that's a problem. Fortunately there are two well-established and genuinely good options, and between them they cover most of what anyone could want.

Boyd Gaming and the Las Vegas Connection

Hawaii has no casinos, but it has a dedicated shuttle service to some of the best value gambling in America. It just happens to be 2,600 miles away in Downtown Las Vegas.

Boyd Gaming was founded in 1975 with a single property: The California Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. From the beginning, Boyd built The Cal around the Hawaiian market - Hawaiian decor, Hawaiian food, Hawaiian staff culture. The motto is "Aloha Spoken Here" and it means it. For decades Hawaiian gamblers made The Cal their Las Vegas home, and Boyd responded by deepening the relationship at every opportunity.

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In 1995 Boyd acquired Vacations Hawaii, a Honolulu travel agency that had been operating since 1952. They immediately added twice-weekly non-stop charter flights from Hawaii to Las Vegas, bundled with discounted hotel and meal packages at their Downtown properties. The operation has been running ever since. Boyd didn't wait for Hawaii to legalize gambling. They built the infrastructure to bring Hawaiian gamblers to them instead.

The charter packages are available to Hawaii residents only and include return flights, hotel, and meal credits. Properties bookable through Vacations Hawaii are:

• The California Hotel and Casino, Downtown Las Vegas - The anchor of the operation and the property with the deepest Hawaiian identity. Around 900 slots, 21 table games, sportsbook, and a dining line-up that runs to oxtail soup and Hawaiian plate lunch staples. The motto is "Aloha Spoken Here" and it means it. Connected by an enclosed walkway bridge to Main Street Station.
• Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel, Downtown Las Vegas - Directly connected to The Cal by bridge, functioning as part of the same complex. Around 600 slots and 8 table games (Friday to Sunday only), the best craps odds in Downtown Las Vegas at 20 times, and a microbrewery restaurant on site.
• Fremont Hotel and Casino, Downtown Las Vegas - On the Fremont Street Experience itself, recently renovated. Around 800 slots, 21 table games, FanDuel Sportsbook, and valet parking included in the resort fee.
• Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas - The outlier of the four, located off-strip on Boulder Highway. A full resort with an indoor park, 56-lane bowling alley, movie theater, bingo hall with seven daily sessions, and a sportsbook with 60 screens.

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Here is a quick breakdown of the Boyd gaming Las Vegas properties to help you decide which one is for you.

Casino Cruises from the US Mainland

Taking a casino cruise to Hawaii from the US mainland is one of the few ways to combine a Hawaiian holiday with genuine gambling, but only if you book the right ship. The distinction matters and catches a lot of people out.

Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America is the obvious choice for many first-time Hawaii cruisers as it sails inter-island from Honolulu year-round. It's also the only large ship based in Hawaii and it lets you skip the long Pacific crossing entirely. However, it also has no casino. 

As a US-flagged vessel it never leaves American waters, which means Hawaii's gambling ban applies on board. So, if gambling is part of your plan, Pride of America is the wrong ship.

Mainland-departure cruises are a different matter entirely. Ships sailing from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, or Vancouver are foreign-flagged and enter international waters on the Pacific crossing, where their casinos open freely. You can expect four to five sea days each way with full access to slots, table games, and sportsbooks. The casino closes while the ship is docked in Hawaiian ports but reopens as soon as you're back at sea, so the crossing itself becomes part of the appeal.

One practical note: most mainland-departure itineraries include a stop in Ensenada, Mexico. This is a requirement under US maritime law as foreign-flagged ships cannot travel between two American ports without calling at a foreign one in between. 

Hawaii's resistance to gambling isn't really about law. It's about identity. From the moment the islands became a state in 1959, there has been a strong and consistent feeling among legislators and large sections of the community that gambling simply doesn't belong here. Hawaii's economy runs on tourism, and the prevailing view has long been that casinos would cheapen the brand, damage family life, and create social problems the islands aren't equipped to handle.

That view has held remarkably firm. While the rest of the country has spent decades legalizing one form of gambling after another, Hawaii hasn't moved an inch. No lottery. No bingo. No scratch cards. No sports betting. Bills get introduced regularly and almost always die quietly in committee, sometimes without even getting a vote.

The opposition is broad. It isn't just conservative politicians. It includes law enforcement, public health agencies, community groups, and a significant proportion of ordinary residents who simply don't want it. When the most recent sports betting bill went to a public hearing in 2026, 41 individuals and organizations showed up to oppose it. Eleven showed up in support.

Supporters of legalization argue that regulated gambling would generate tax revenue and help deter the illegal gambling market that already exists in the state. Critics remain unconvinced.

What the Future Holds

Something is shifting, slowly. The 2025 sports betting bill was the furthest any gambling legislation had ever gone in Hawaii. It passed both the House and the Senate before collapsing over disagreements on tax rates and licensing fees, with the governor on record saying he would have signed it. That's a significant moment for a state that had previously killed every gambling bill before it got anywhere near a floor vote.

In 2026 a new bill is moving through committees again, proposing online-only sports betting with at least six licensed operators, a 15% tax rate, and a $500,000 licensing fee. In a quirky procedural move, the committee advanced it with an effective date of July 1, 3000, a way of keeping the conversation alive without actually committing to anything. Several more hurdles remain before the session closes in May.

Nobody is predicting that Hawaii will have casinos any time soon. But the wall that has held since 1959 has developed some visible cracks, and for the first time there is a realistic prospect that some form of legal gambling, most likely online sports betting, could arrive within the next few years.

If gambling is causing problems for you or someone you know, free support is available 24 hours a day. Call or text the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537). Hawaii is one of a small number of states that does not fund problem gambling treatment directly, but national resources are available to all residents.

Legal Disclaimer

All forms of gambling are illegal in Hawaii, including online gambling and sports betting. This page is provided for informational purposes only. The Boyd Gaming and cruise ship options described are legal activities taking place outside the state of Hawaii. Readers are responsible for ensuring they comply with all applicable laws and shouldn't consider anything on the page to be legal advice. Information is subject to change.