It is legal for vacationing visitors to play the Hawaii lottery.
Hawaii statutes for gambling and the lottery begin in Section 712-1220, Part 6 of the state to state U.S. Federal Gambling Laws. These statutes cover both legal and illegal gambling practices; punishment for violations of these statutes is also outlined within Section 712-1229 of Hawaii state gambling laws.
Section 712-1220 Part 6, (a)
This statute states that persons who play the lottery enter an agreement with the ticket provider. Within this agreement, the individual is agreeing to pay cash for the lottery ticket in order to secure a chance of winning the prize, which of course can be a large cash amount. The statute states that the individual will present the ticket provider with a combination of the numbers necessary to make this purchase.
The purpose of this statute is to outline the rights of the purchasers, in that if they are securing their chance or chances by buying tickets, and the rights of the ticket provider, in that payment must be received for this chance.
Section 712-1220 Part 6, (b)
This statute outlines the method in which the winner of the lottery must be determined. There must be an element of randomness that would prevent anyone from having prior knowledge of the winning number. Lottery winners are determined by such methods as computer generated programs or numbered balls removed from a rolling cage. The statute forbids tampering with these determining medias. For example, the programmer of a computer-generated method to determine the winning numbers cannot rig the program to retrieve a predetermined number of his or her choosing. Such an act would be considered illegal gambling practices and would result in criminal charges, and the lottery would be shut down.
Section 712-1220 Part 6, (c)
This statute protects the rights of the winner of this lottery. Basically this statute legally entitles the winner or winners of the lottery to their winnings. Including this statute into law prevents ticket providers from illegally promoting a fraudulent cash prize. Such practices are illegal as outlined in Section 712-1221 Part 1, (b). This also covers any schemes used by the ticket provider to steal money from any ticket holder, such as selling side bets on chosen number combinations.
Section 712-1229
This statute outlines that it is not illegal for nonresidents to participate in the Hawaii lottery. Hawaii is a popular vacation destination and, as such, has a great number of nonresident visitors. This statute gives these visitors the right to purchase Hawaii lottery tickets and to secure their winnings if any. Under this statute, nonresident individuals who purchase tickets cannot be prosecuted for making these purchases. In short, this statute prevents punishment for nonresidents, but it only protects them in connection with the lottery. Other forms of gambling even by nonresidents may result in punishment if the statutes are violated.
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