Casino & Lottery
Michigan is a welcome recent addition to the states that have relaxed their gambling laws. Though Michigan gamblers have had access to full-service commercial and tribal casinos for decades, law enforcement authorities were raiding private poker games in the state as recently as 2010.
Due to a rapidly evolving landscape, Michigan gamblers now have fully legal and regulated options for online sports betting, casino games, and poker.
We’ve listed our favorite casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites accepting players from Michigan below. Pick a site and start playing!
Yes. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lawful Sports Betting Act and the Lawful Internet Gaming Act in late 2019, legalizing online gambling, sports betting (online and in-person), and online poker in Michigan. After the Michigan Gaming Control Board finalized its rules and licenses, online casino operators launched in January 2021. It is also not illegal for Michigan residents to play at offshore online casinos for real money.
Yes. With licenses being granted and online sportsbook operators partnering with Michigan casinos, online sports betting is available to Michigan residents as of January 2021. Offshore sportsbooks are also still an option for players.
Yes. With the new gambling law signed by the governor in late 2019, online gambling is legal in Michigan as of January 2021.
Yes, as of January 2021, though only PokerStars and PartyPoker have licenses to operate online poker in conjunction with Michigan casinos. The Michigan Gaming Control Board will also be free to enter into multistate agreements so that poker players can play opponents in other states.
The best online sportsbook for Michigan gamblers is Bovada, the US successor to Bodog. When you make your first deposit at Bovada, you’ll receive a $250 welcome bonus. If you deposit using Bitcoin, your welcome bonus can grow to up to $750.
Wager on the full list of NFL football, NHL hockey, NBA basketball, MLB baseball, and MLS soccer. Bettors can also place bets on golf, tennis, UFC, and boxing. Those who prefer international sports betting can enjoy English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, FIFA tournaments, or Champions League wagers.
To buy lottery tickets or scratchcards, you’ll need to be at least 18 years old in Michigan. Charitable gambling and pari-mutuel wagering on horse races also requires bettors to be 18 or older. The minimum age for wagering at land-based casinos is 21 years. State-regulated online gambling will have a minimum age of 21, while at offshore casinos the minimum age is 18.
The top online casino for Michigan gamblers is Cafe Casino. New depositors receive their choice of Cafe Casino’s $2,500 Super Play Max Bonus with a 35x wagering requirement or a $1,000 No-Max Bonus with a 25x wagering requirement. If you enjoy slots, Cafe Casino has over 250 titles, including Bulletproof Babes, Bust-a-Vault, Candy Cottage, or Cyberpunk City.
Test yourself in the table games section with baccarat, blackjack, craps, or roulette. Or try new games like Andar Bahar, Roll The Dice, or Teen Patti. The live dealer section of Cafe Casino includes six games, including live blackjack, live baccarat, and live roulette.
Bovada Poker is our recommended online poker site for Michigan gamblers. Players can enjoy $150k guaranteed tournaments and $100k guaranteed tournaments throughout the week. They can play in a wide variety of cash games, sit’n-go events, and turbo events. If they play poker on their mobile devices, they can enjoy jackpot sit-&-go events.
Michigan poker players who make a deposit receive their choice of a $500 welcome bonus or a $750 Bitcoin bonus.
Michigan gambling laws have evolved rapidly in the past few years. In late 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Lawful Sports Betting Act and Lawful Online Gambling Act, legalizing not just sports betting, but online casinos and online poker as well. To show how far Michigan has come, as late as 2010, law enforcement outside Grand Rapids prosecuted players at an illegal poker tournament held in a local hotel.
Yes. Michigan also has three full-service land-based commercial casinos in Detroit: the MGM Grand, the Motor City Casino, and the venerable Greektown Casino.
Greektown was briefly named Jack Casino Detroit while it was owned by Detroit native Dan Gilbert (who owns Quicken Loans, RocketMortgage, and the Cleveland Cavaliers), but Gilbert sold the casino amid speculation he desires buying the Detroit Tigers. Penn National Gaming now owns the renamed Greektown Casino.
Michigan also has 26 tribal casinos owned by 12 different Native American tribes. Michigan’s tribal casinos are owned by a wide variety of Native American groups, including the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, and the Ojibwa tribe, which is found throughout the Midwest.
Yes. Michigan has one horse racing track at Northville Downs, outside of Detroit. The track also hosts simulcast racing.
Simulcasting may expand in Michigan now that betting on out-of-state races can be legally accomplished online.
Yes, Michigan allows charitable gambling. The state has a variety of bingo halls that generate revenues for churches, police departments, fire departments, veterans’ groups, and other nonprofit organizations.
It also has Millionaires Parties, which are a form of poker night with raffles and casino games. To host a Millionaire Party, a group has to be licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
Michigan was one of the few states to explicitly outlaw social gaming, and still has anti-social gaming laws on the books.
While sites such as PlayMGM are technically illegal, it is unlikely a user will be prosecuted for playing, especially since MGM now has a fully legal online gambling app in the state.
Yes. “Bona fide” gaming is used in over a dozen states as a workaround to betting on oneself. If a player bets on a “contest for the determination of skill, speed, strength or endurance or the bona fide owners of animals or vehicles entered in such a contest”, it is considered a bona fide contest.
