Gambling has always been prevalent in the state of Michigan. It was first legalized in the 1930s, during the famous Great Depression. Since then, it has become a big part of the overall culture of the state, which is especially true for horse racing, as this form of gambling was the first to be legalized and the first to gain popularity.
Now, almost a century later, online gambling has become the norm of the entire world of gambling for Michiganders, in the same way it has been for players worldwide. Fortunately for the state’s casino players, online casinos are now fully legal, but as the law is still fairly new, there’s a lot a player like you needs to know. Let’s take a look.
Top 10 Michigan Online Casinos
Here is a list of our top 10 recommended online casino sites to play at for real money from Michigan.
1
Bovada
Rating 4.5
Mobile Friendly
Accepts Bitcoin
Live dealers available
Deposit Methods: ACH Direct Deposit, American Express, Bank transfer, Bitcoin, echeck, MasterCard, Matchpay, Visa, Visa Gift Card
The deposit plus bonus amount is subject to a 25x playthrough requirement before the deposit, bonus amount and any winnings can be withdrawn.
Forfeiting this bonus will result in this bonus and any subsequent winnings associated with this bonus to be removed.
Bonus funds cannot be used for play on Live Dealer games.
Craps and Live Dealer play do not count toward meeting rollover requirements for withdrawal.
All games, except Craps and Live Dealer, contribute towards playthrough requirements; however, certain games may have a greater contribution than others.
Deposit Methods: ACH Direct Deposit, American Express, Bank transfer, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Courier Check, echeck, Ethereum, Gift Cards, Litecoin, MasterCard, Matchpay, Tether, User2User Transfer, Visa
Withdrawal Methods: American Express, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Check, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tether, User2User Transfer
The deposit plus Casino bonus amount is subject to a 25X Casino playthrough requirement before the deposit, bonus amount and any winnings can be withdrawn.
• This offer is valid only for first-time depositors at Vegas Casino. • The offer is limited to one player per household and/or computer. • The coupon can only be redeemed once by the player to a maximum of $500 in bonus. • Deposit a minimum $25 to qualify for this bonus. • The deposit and bonus must be wagered fifty (50) times before a cashout is permitted. • Only the following games count towards the wagering requirements of the bonus: some Real Video Slots, some Slots, Keno and Scratch Cards.
Deposit Methods: American Express, Bank transfer, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, BitcoinSV, Courier Check, Ethereum, Litecoin, MasterCard, Matchpay, Player Transfer, Tether, Visa
Bonuses issued at the discretion of the Company are subject to one per individual, household, civic address, e-mail address, deposit instrument, bank account, telephone number, computer/device, and/or IP address.
If you cancel or forfeit the bonus at anytime prior to wagering and rollover requirements being met, all funds generated by the bonus (including the bonus) will be void and be ineligible for reinstatement. Details on the applicable restrictions can be found in the specific terms of the promotion.
Unless otherwise stated, the minimum amount required to activate a deposit bonus is $20.
Bonuses are subject to wagering and rollover requirements and must be met by their specified timeline prior to any approved requested withdrawals.
Players can claim the WILD250 bonus code on their first deposit only.
Players can claim the WILD100 bonus code on their 2nd to 5th deposits only.
A minimum deposit of $20 is required to qualify for WILD250 and WILD100 bonus codes.
The maximum bonus amount per deposit is $1,000.
The correct bonus code needs to be entered to claim the correct match bonus with your deposit. ie WILD250 on your first deposit and WILD100 on subsequent deposits.
This bonus is only valid on select Slots, Table games and Video Poker games.
This bonus is not valid in the Live Dealer Casino.
The deposit plus bonus amount is subject to a 40X rollover requirement before any winnings can be withdrawn.
Not all games contribute towards bonus rollover; please check our bonus contribution page for further details.
If the rollover requirements are not met within 30 days of claiming the bonus, any remaining bonus funds winnings will be forfeited.
Only one bonus can be active at any one time.
The maximum release amount is 5X the bonus amount up to $5,000.
Rollover requirements must be met before any additional bonuses can be granted.
This promotion is non-transferable.
Standard bonus terms and conditions apply.
Wild Casino reserves the right to alter or amend the Terms and Conditions of this promotion at any time without notice.
All free bonuses require a minimum of 60x wagering before any withdrawal can be made. Wagers placed on Blackjack, Video Poker, Craps, American Roulette, Baccarat, and other table or non-slot games will not count toward this wagering requirement unless explicitly stated otherwise. Playing any excluded game before meeting these wagering requirements may result in the casino voiding all winnings and potentially closing the account. Withdrawal requests submitted before completing the wagering requirements will be denied until these requirements are fully met.
The short answer is yes. Online casinos and online poker games were legalized in the state of Michigan on December 20, 2019. The so-called Lawful Internet Gaming Act, or House Bill No. 4311, has effectively legalized all forms of online gambling, making online casinos fully legal. The only prohibitions in force are that operators can have a single online skin and that the casinos cannot offer multi-state games.
However, as the law is still fairly new, it hasn’t become fully effective yet. In essence, it’s still necessary for the regulators to put the legislation into practice. Then, casino operators need to apply and receive proper licensing for their gambling offers. After that, they need to build up the virtual infrastructure to comply with the state’s laws.
For all these reasons, online gambling is legal in the state, but it hasn’t gone live for players. It is expected that the first online gambling options will become available to Michigan-based players in the second part of 2020.
Additionally, it is currently estimated that online gambling will become fully available to Michigan-based players in 2021.
Naturally, until online casinos become fully available, you can gamble in other ways. At the moment, Michiganders can still play and enjoy off-track betting and online lottery. You can also play in offshore online casinos that unfortunately are not legal, but they are not illegal either. That’s because the state doesn’t prosecute Michigan-based players for using an offshore casino. What’s more, players from Michigan play in these casinos all the time without any problems, be them legal or of any other kind.
Land-Based Casino Options in Michigan
Land-based casinos have been legal in Michigan for a long time and, currently, you have the option to play in a total of 26 casinos — 23 tribal and 3 commercial. There, you can enjoy a wide variety of casino games like slots, table games, and many more.
Naturally, with the legalization of online gambling, all these casinos can apply for licenses to start offering virtual casino games. What’s more, chances for this are very high, because Michigan includes tribal casinos in the state’s casino licensing regulations. However, this is not the case with most of Michigan’s counterparts in the United States. Although they allow online casinos, the majority of other states allow only commercial casinos to apply for online gambling licenses.
By the time operators get licenses for online gambling in Michigan under the 2019 law, they will belong to these land-based casinos. That’s because only existing Michigan casinos can apply for online gambling licenses. As for other operators, the current law doesn’t allow them to apply.
Out of the many land-based casinos, we picked a few that are the best in the state.
Soaring Eagle Casino Resort
Soaring Eagle is both a hotel and a casino, located in the Isabella Indian Reservation near Mount Pleasant. It was fully renovated in 2018 and now offers many table games like roulette, crap, blackjack, poker, and more. Naturally, you can also play on numerous slot machines spread throughout this 200,000 sq. ft complex.
MGM Grand Detroit
The MGM casino belongs to the famous MGM Grand group that owns a total of 13 major properties, including the famous Luxor Las Vegas complex. More importantly, at the MGM Grand casino in Detroit, you can play over 150 table games and 3,500 slots.
FireKeepers Casino
This massive casino and hotel complex is located in the Emmett Charter Township. It’s owned and operated by a Potawatomi tribe. If you ever find yourself in the casino, you’ll be able to play more than 2,900 slots and 76 table games that include baccarat, blackjack, roulette, and many others.
Other Gambling Options in Michigan
As we’ve stated in the beginning, gambling is very popular in Michigan, which naturally means that there are other forms of gambling in the state, not only casino games.
Horse racing is still fairly popular in the state; however, nowadays there is only one racetrack called Northville Downs. It offers adults the possibility to gamble on both live and simulcast racing.
The Michigan State Lottery provides a lottery to the state’s players. Many options are available, including instant cash, pull tabs, keno, lottery draws, second-chance games, and scratch cards. On top of that, the state participates in interstate draws like the Mega Millions lottery.
In the end, there is also bingo and, most importantly, sports betting that has become legal in 2019, together with online gambling.
The Future of Online Gambling in Michigan
With the latest online gambling law from 2019, we can safely say that the future of online gambling in Michigan is extremely bright. The online infrastructure is still not there, as it takes time for operators to apply and obtain licenses. Still, we can expect a wide range of Michigan-based online casinos to be fully established during 2021.
You can expect operators to quickly jump on the bandwagon, as all of them will want to get established before the competition, so the future of Michigan online gambling is assured.
Summary
As you can see, with the online gambling law from 2019, Michigan became one of the many states in the US that permits online casinos to operate within the state. Players will soon have the chance to enjoy numerous casino games in Michigan-based sites, not only in offshore and land-based casinos.
Thanks to the fact that tribal casinos have a chance to open online casinos, you can expect many online casinos to pop up fairly soon.
At this point, only an online lottery is available to Michiganders. However, with online gambling legalized, online sports betting and online casino games will also become available very soon.
You can, as soon as the first online casinos open in the state. For now, you can only enjoy state-run online lotteries or opt to play in offshore online casinos.
Sports betting has already gone live in a handful of land-based casinos. As for online casino games, we can only make predictions. The first online casinos will likely appear in 2020, but the more probable date is somewhere in 2021.
You can, as online poker was legalized in 2019, along with most other online casino games. However, you still have to wait for casinos to start offering online poker.
Any person who is at least 21 years old can gamble online in the state of Michigan.
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Administrator/moderator and fixer of things that break on blackjackinfo.com. Tum has contributed to the LCB network for over 10 years working with numerous casino, poker and sports affiliate websites.
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