Raid on arcades of dubious value

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 16, 2012

~~<p>A chain of amusement arcades became aware in February that the Honolulu Liquor Commission was awaiting legal opinions about whether certain "sweepstakes" machines were tools of illegal gambling. To the arcade owners' surprise, word came in the form of seizure of the machines ordered last month by city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro. The swashbuckling raid was unseemly, considering the legal ambiguity involved.</p>
<p>Flanked by police vice officers at a Sept. 28 news conference, Kaneshiro maintained that the machines' illegality was "elementary. If you put in money with the intent of winning money, and you either win or lose money, then that's gambling."</p>
~~

A chain of amusement arcades became aware in February that the Honolulu Liquor Commission was awaiting legal opinions about whether certain "sweepstakes" machines were tools of illegal gambling. To the arcade owners' surprise, word came in the form of seizure of the machines ordered last month by city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro. The swashbuckling raid was unseemly, considering the legal ambiguity involved.

Flanked by police vice officers at a Sept. 28 news conference, Kaneshiro maintained that the machines' illegality was "elementary. If you put in money with the intent of winning money, and you either win or lose money, then that's gambling." Login for more...