Michigan Online Gambling & Casinos

The legislative body in the state of Michigan is moving faster than most. The Michigan Gaming Control Board approved the launch of online sports betting and online casino in January 2021. The approval of online gambling followed the onsite launch in Michigan, which took place in the late spring of 2020.

Launch of online poker and fantasy sports in Michigan

Online poker more or less followed the same suit and timeline as online gambling in general and was legalized in January 2021.

Michigan online fantasy sports are legal as well. In addition, Fanduel and Draftkings are already present in Michigan and have made sure to make a push for sports betting

For an online casino to launch in Michigan, it has to be an extension of a land-based casino. There are more than 25 casinos in Michigan today, of which three are commercial, and the rest are tribal. Other states have focused on commercial players only, but that will gradually change in Michigan. 

The new law expressly states that a tribal casino cannot launch online unless a commercial does too, and vice versa. In addition, the licensing process will have to approve at least two different casinos for online operations at launch.

Which land-based casino is likely to launch an online casino in MI?

From experience, we know that commercial operators are often very eager to get a license. Given that both tribal and commercial operators will have to launch simultaneously, our best guess would be the following: All three commercial casino operators in Michigan will apply for and get a license. In addition, at least one tribal casino will get a license from the start. But many more will apply and later get a license as well. How many players we will see in the end is hard to predict. However, we hope that as many online casinos as possible will continue to launch for healthy competition in Michigan.

Where can I download online casino apps in Michigan?

Residents of Michigan and occasional visitors can enjoy a wide variety of gambling opportunities at commercial and tribal casinos in the state. Players can enjoy casino games in these Michigan casinos, including video poker machines, Slot machines, and table games like live poker, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, and House-banked poker.

All licensed online casinos in Michigan offer their services through a casino or betting app. The process of downloading a casino app is pretty intuitive and straightforward. If you own an iPhone, you can go to the Apple store and download the casino app as you do with any other app. However, if you are on an Android phone, you can’t download the app from Google Play Store. In this case, you should visit the online casinos Michigan webpage on your phone. Once there, you will most often be prompted whether you would like to download the app. Click yes, and you should be on your way. Just make sure you download the casino apps applicable to Michigan and not some other state.

Who can play online casinos in Michigan?

Anyone above the age of 21 can play online casinos in Michigan. You don’t even have to be from Michigan to play. If you live in a neighboring state, you can travel across the border to place your bets. You can download the casino apps from anywhere and often open a betting account and deposit money to your account. But to play online casinos in Michigan, you will have to be in the state physically.

Which are the best online casinos in Michigan?

The Michigan online gambling scene is flourishing. The best online casinos in Michigan offer the best RTP and various games. The prominent fantasy sports players FanDuel and Draftkings entered the market early, and a diversity of casino games came. However, they are very focused on sports and not so much on online casinos. You will find the best online casino in Michigan at one of the large US casinos, such as BetMGM or Caesars.

Michigan Online Lottery

The most common state-regulated form of gambling in Michigan is the lottery.  The state earns hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from scratch-offs and raffle games. All this money comes from Michigan residents participating in the Michigan lottery and the state’s cut from raffle-style games.

Gambling in Michigan has a long history. The first form of gambling was betting on horse races which started after the Michigan Racing Act in 1933. Horse racing was at the top until the middle of the 20th century, when tribal casinos started opening; popularity started declining.

In 1972, they added the lottery to the ballot, and the state voted for its legalization. This included charitable gambling, where people could use gambling games for fundraising purposes. Soon after, in 1975, the first scratch-off ticket was sold. State lottery tickets also started selling two years later, and in 1996, Michigan joined the inter-state lottery.

Expansion of land-based casinos

By 1993, the first tribal casinos opened their doors, and it did not take long for 20 more tribal casinos to open their doors. Then, in 1996, the same year that Michigan joined the inter-state lottery, the Gaming Control and Revenue Act permitted gambling expansion by allowing three commercial casinos to operate in Detroit. From 1996 however, there wasn’t a lot of change in the gambling laws until the question of online gambling popped up in the state. 

MI Gambling 2014 -2015

Even before the bid for gaming online started, there were concerns about charitable gaming. In May 2014, the revised charity gaming regulations for Millionaire Parties took effect following the passing of the Bill that wanted to tone down regulations on charitable gambling.

In February 2015, two bills were introduced to the senate.  These bills would require the State Lottery Commissioner to take tenders from the private organizations that would regulate the State Lottery. Still, the legislation would not engage the Commissioner to approve the bids.

Ground-breaking bills passed in MI

In January, state representatives R-Jackson and Earl Poleski introduced HB077, sent to the House Commerce and Trading Committee. Then, on February 3, 2015, Senator Wayne Schmidt introduced another bill (SB75) referred to as the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee. The State lottery employs over 170 workers, and their jobs were to be privatized if either of these bills were approved.

MI Gambling 2016 – 2017

The first-time online gambling was considered in 2016 when Senator Mike Kowall presented a bill that would permit and regulate online gambling within the state. His bill, was known as the Lawful Internet Gambling Act. This bill proposed the creation of a Commission of Online gambling to offer for licensing and regulation of the internet gambling industry. The bill also stated that all operators of land-based casinos and licensed Michigan Indian tribes who run gambling facilities in the state were to apply for the license. The initial licensing fee was proposed at $100k plus a tax rate of 10% of gross gambling revenue.

Consumer protection issues associated with gambling in Michigan

In May 2016, the Senate held a meeting to consider the Lawful Internet Gaming Act from Senator Kowall. Various legislators, including Kowall himself, offered testimonies that revolved around the consumer protection issues. On top of that, gambling industry representatives also spoke to list methods that can prevent gambling-related shortcomings like addictions.

In October of that year, Instant win gaming struck a deal with the state lottery to merge its remote gaming server with the lottery interactive platform. This meant that lottery customers could now access the whole IWG’s library of instant lottery games through the Michigan State Lottery Site.

The house passed legislation HB4081

In April 2017, they shifted attention back to the state lottery. The House passed legislation to do away with certain restrictions on charitable Casino-style gaming events. This bill (HB4081) would propose several changes to charitable gaming laws to maximize all the revenue generated for charities by “millionaire parties”. This law also permitted an increase in chip sales from $15k to $20k per day. After they passed it, the bill was taken to Senate to be considered.

By September 2017, Representative Brandt Iden also came up with a bill to authorize and regulate interactive gaming. He also added a clause that would form a division of Internet gaming divisionto govern and regulate the industry. Mr. Iden’s bill proposed a gross win tax of 8% plus a license fee of $200k in the first year and $100k each year.

Concluding 2018 to Date of MI Gambling development

In August 2018, Michigan State Lottery awarded a 10-year contract to IGT to bring new technologies to the State lottery. Their agreement included a replacement of the 11,550 gaming terminals and the 2,100 GameTouch self-service machines. The fight for the legalization of online gambling. However, they didn’t pan out by the end of 2018. Governor Rick Snyder vetoed HB 4926 even though it had passed with an overwhelming majority in the senate and the house.

The following year, in February 2019, the Michigan State Lottery came up with Endzone Payout, an instant virtual football game distributed by Inspired Gaming and IWG. The Sports-themed virtual lottery game uses a video clip of a single football play to disclose the outcome of a symbol match lottery game. Up to now, Michigan Serves as the first State in the US to launch the new Vertical. In October of the same year, Michigan State Lottery gave a 4-year contract to NeoPollard Interactive to keep on managing and delivering the lottery’s interactive platform and games.

The Michigan online gambling and casinos law is signed

On December 20th, 2019, the new Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who had taken over from Rick Snyder, signed into law the largest gambling expansion ever seen in the state. Under the new law, which was an amendment to Iden’s initial proposals, internet gambling will only be offered by licensed tribal and commercial casinos in the state. The casinos would then part with a $50k application fee, $100k initial license fee, and an annual fee of $50k. Operators offering internet gaming services, on the other hand, would be subject to $5K in application fees, another $5k in initial licensing fees, and an annual fee of $2,500.

Michigan finally became the fifth state to allow regulated online casino gaming and the sixth state to make online poker legal. You can find more specifics of the legislation under HB4311, 4312, and 4323.