Guide to Michigan Gambling & Roulette Casinos

It's not surprising that Michigan online casinos are legal, as the state has always had more liberal practices when it comes to gambling. Michigan first legalized horse racing betting in 1933 and established the Office of the Racing Commissioner to oversee this new industry. State lottery became legal in 1972. Unlike other states, however, Michigan has decided to jointly organize its lottery with other states: We'll tell you more about this lottery called “The Big Game” below. In the same year, charity bingo and raffle games were also legalized.

In 1996, land-based casinos were allowed, and it was decided to open all of them in Detroit to help it develop. By that time, tribal casinos already existed in Michigan (as in other US states), but with this decision, regular casinos became legal within the state borders. In 1997, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) was established to control and license these casinos and other legal gambling establishments. Currently, all types of legal gambling in the state are controlled by this commission.

Sports betting was made legal in 2019. If we look at other states, we see that almost all of them made sports betting legal in the same year, but Michigan, unlike them, added online betting to the scope of this legal change. In other words, land-based and online betting became legal at the same time. At the beginning of 2021, MI online casinos were legalized too: Michigan is a pioneer in this regard, as there are very few US states where online casinos are actually legal. Michigan online roulette and other games can be played at these sites. (However, as we will explain below, this is a very limited service and does not include many of the advantages of internet casinos.)

To sum up, Michigan is one of the most liberally regulated states in terms of legal gambling, and according to current laws, these are completely legal:

• Sports betting (online and land-based)
• Pari-mutual wagering
• Casino games (online and land-based)
• Bingo, lottery, and millionaire parties

The only thing that is illegal is betting on stocks, bonds, and grain: As odd as it may sound, betting on grain (especially in rural areas) is quite common and strictly prohibited in Michigan, as it has caused many farmers to go bankrupt. Apart from that, online and land-based gambling is allowed with almost no restrictions.

Until 2019, only horse racing betting was legal and fantasy sports betting was also allowed as it was not seen as a form of gambling. With the legal change in 2019, both online and land-based betting became legal. However, this has a certain limitation: Only casinos can offer sports betting services. In other words, there is no separate license for sports betting: This type of gambling can only be offered by businesses with a land-based casino license.

Every Michigan casino must contract with a platform provider for sports betting services. In other words, sports bets are mainly offered by this provider, but they use the brand of the casino. For example, MotorCity Casino has contracted FanDuel for this service. Indian casinos mostly preferred Draft Kings. When you visit a Michigan online bookmaker, you are actually visiting the casino site, but the service is offered by the platform that the casino has agreed with.

Both land-based and online forms of table games can be played. This, of course, includes roulette: You can play poker, blackjack, baccarat, craps, and different variants of roulette in all casinos (and casino sites). However, online casinos are very limited in variety, so if you want to try different variants, land-based casinos offer more options. Michigan also has card rooms, and you can play almost any card game in them as well. However, most of these rooms serve as social clubs and do not allow real money play. In real money rooms, the betting limits are quite low.

You can play slot games in land-based casinos and online casinos. There are more than 30,000 slot games in land-based casinos alone. However, if we make a general assessment, we can say that the variety in online casinos is quite limited: We will discuss the reasons for this in detail below. You can also play online slots from mobile devices, but you must be at least 21 years old for both online and land-based gambling.

The lottery has been legal in Michigan since 1972 and organized as a multistate event since 1996. This particular lottery is called “The Big Game” and covers the states of Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Michigan. New York and Ohio have also joined this chain since 2002: You know this lottery today as “Mega Millions”. In other words, Mega Millions is a project started by Michigan and has been the largest lottery in the United States since 2002.

The Michigan Lottery also runs bingo, keno, and scratch card games. It is also possible for individuals and companies to organize bingo, keno, and millionaire party events for charity. Millionaire party is a kind of instant win game, and the grand prize is 1 million dollars, as can be guessed by the name.

Like all other US states, Michigan has Indian casinos. These are businesses established in the Indian territory by federal law and are not subject to the control of the Michigan Gaming Control Board. There are more than two dozen tribal casinos in Michigan, predominantly serving in the Mt. Pleasant region. Tribal casinos have a special agreement with the state and share about 10% of their revenue with Michigan. Since 1996, private companies have also been allowed to open a casino in the state, but their number has been limited to three, all located in Detroit. These casinos are Greek Town, MGM, and Motor City: each has been in operation for over 25 years. Land based casinos only accept people over the age of 21. Michigan's land-based gambling industry can easily be compared to New Jersey because the revenue figures are almost the same. Considering that New Jersey made online gambling legal in 2013, this is a pretty impressive result: Michigan has managed to make gambling one of the most profitable industries in the state in a very short time.

At the beginning of 2021, online casinos became legal, but with some restrictions: Just like sports betting, only land-based casino owners are allowed to open a website. So, you can't just get a license for an online casino in Michigan: only land-based casinos are allowed to open a site, and these sites are considered an online version of physically offered services, not a real online casino.

Therefore, we can say that their content is quite limited. Land-based casinos keep the content of their online sites particularly poor in order not to lose customers, and, for example, do not add enough games. Likewise, bonuses are practically non-existent, and you are only allowed to join the loyalty program with your physical bets. These sites are not used as a separate service by casinos, but as a promotional tool in which their physical services are promoted. Therefore, it is unfortunately not possible for them to provide a satisfactory service like regular internet casinos.

However, this is not a big problem because the internet offers hundreds of options. Due to the liberality of gambling laws, players from Michigan can play at any casino they wish with no restrictions. You don't need to be content with a limited number of games: there are many casinos on the Internet that allow you to play every variant of roulette, whether offline or against real dealers. These sites also offer a bonus for every deposit you make and allow you to try your luck at games other than roulette.

That's why we recommend using international sites, not local, play roulette for real money online from Michigan: This way, you can get a much more enjoyable and profitable experience. Moreover, we already selected the best of these sites for you and listed them in this guide – all you have to do is choose one and become a member.

Michigan sets an example for the United States when it comes to legal gambling and was among the first states to legalize online casinos. This is a good development, but still not at the desired level, as online casinos are a service only offered by land-based casinos. In other words, it is not possible for big and famous operators in the iGaming industry to open an online casino in Michigan, this is only a right granted to casino owners in the state. For the same reason, the scope of the services is quite limited and internet casinos offer a much more satisfactory experience. We've reviewed all these casinos and selected the best ones: you can find them all in this guide. If you want to start playing online roulette right now with an amazing bonus, simply choose one and become a member: we wish you good luck!