The Michigan gambling industry had come a long way since 1927 when the Michigan Lottery Act was signed, and the State Lottery was established. Since the end of 2019, online casinos and poker are legal in the state (awaiting launch). There is still a lot left to be done, though, as the first licensed online gambling facilities are yet to launch.
In the current overview, we’ll deal with each segment of the market individually. The page covers casino gambling, sports betting, lottery and the relevant laws that put all these into a legal context. As you read, you’ll learn where you can bet legally and what future developments to expect. If you a ready to gamble now, you can find an expertly reviewed list of legal Michigan online gambling sites here. We’ll also share a word about responsible gambling that you may find useful as this is a hot button issue that needs to be addressed.
Gambling in Michigan: Where to Legally Bet
Contents
Gambling Michigan comprises different verticals such as sports betting, remote and land-based gambling. All these different sides of the business bring something to the table. If you’ve not yet settled for a particular Michigan gambling type, we strongly recommend you explore all avenues before deciding what suits you best. The following few paragraphs provide insight into the currently legal forms of gambling in the state based on which you can draw your own conclusion what fits your style.
Land-based Michigan Casino Gambling
Land-based casinos were among the gambling premises that were legal before the reforms that followed late 2019. Venues of this type come in all shapes and sizes. The biggest facility in Michigan housing casino games is MGM Grand Detroit. Even money-making facilities this big, suffer a big blow during a situation of a global pandemic. The crisis of early 2020 was a big setback for the sector and had a major rippling effect on the business of land-based casino operators.
Michigan casino visitors can choose from a wider range of slot machines alongside table games such as roulette, and blackjack. Those three are the main categories that are characteristic for casinos in Michigan, but there are other game types you can enjoy as well. Baccarat and Casino Hold’em are said to be very profitable too thanks to a reasonable house edge. As if the games are not attractive enough, but you can also take advantage of bonus offers and promotions.
Michigan Online Casino Gambling: The Future of Gaming
The groundwork for functioning online gambling in Michigan was laid with the signing of the Michigan online gambling bill titled House Bill 4311 on December 20, 2019. Governor Whitmer did that singlehandedly while promising that tax revenue will go to schools and the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund (FROCF). The bill enables tribal casinos to take part in online gambling at an equal footing with Detroit casinos. House Bill 4311 formulated the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, whereby the Michigan Gaming Control Board was entrusted with the responsibility of licensing the casino games for online gambling. Currently, all forms of casino games can be offered online.
- Roulette
- Blackjack
- Baccarat
- Slot Machines
- Live Casino
- Jackpots
- Sratch Cards
- Craps
- Casino Hold’em
The launch date for the first licensed online casinos is still up in the air. While the exact date is unknown, we do know that it’s happening sooner rather than later. If we are to look at it conservatively, we can see the first online casinos launching before mid-2021. After all, legislators still have work to do, and the system could be quite cumbersome. As we already know, HB 4311 treats tribal and commercial casinos even-handedly, so we can expect that they would be the first operators with licensed online gambling sites in Michigan.
Michigan Sports Betting: NFL Wagering & More
HB 4916 effectuated the Lawful Sports Betting Act and with that, paved the way for legal sports betting in the confines of Michigan’s gambling sites. The bill also states that bets made online will be put in the same category as wagers made at the physical gambling venue of the respective operator. Dedicated sports betting operators are also included in the legal framework of HB 4916, giving them the legal means to obtain a license if compliant. Revenue from sports betting also goes in support of the school system and the FRPCF. We’ll be sure to write a guide to Michigan sports betting once legal sportsbooks have been launched online and at casino locations. There are currently no online betting locations, but you can place wagers at land-based locations
Currently these are the Michigan casinos with sportsbooks:
- Scientific Games Sportsbook at Fire Keeper’s Casino (Battle Creek)
- Sportsbook at Greektown Casino Hotel (Detroit)
- Bet MGM at MGM Grand Detroit (Detroit)
- FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity Casino (Detroit)
- Pointsbet Sportsbook at Northern Waters Casino (Watersmeet)
- FOX Bet Sportsbook at Odawa Casino (Petoskey)
- William Hill Sportsbook at Turtle Creek Casino (Williamsburg)
- William Hill Sportsbook at Leelanau Sands Casino (Peshawbestown)
Daily Fantasy Sports: Legal in the State
The Fantasy Contests Consumer Protection Act introduced by HB 4308 has put fantasy sports contests into law. The reform entails the legalization of commercial and private contests. As it stands, both are considered a legal form of gambling. Much like sports betting, daily fantasy sports appeal to the adult part of the sport-loving community in the USA, but that doesn’t mean operators will necessarily offer both services. The main difference between the two, from a bettor’s standpoint, is that there are fewer daily fantasy sports operators than there are sports betting ones. Two of the reputable daily fantasy sports sites are Draft Kings and FanDuel DFS.
Online Poker
With HB 4311 coming into effect, Michigan joined the exclusive club of states with legal online poker. As good as it may sound, that’s only the first step of having legal poker sites offering their services to Michigan players. It seems logical that Michigan will be included in the shared player pool of Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, as this is the only way to fast forward to a stable online poker industry. Michigan gambling operators will have the right to launch poker rooms that are powered by not more than two poker brands. In all probability, the giant PokerStars will want to capitalize on the opportunity.
Gambling on The Michigan State Lottery
The state lottery is the financial motor of many unrelated domains like education, for example. According to the reports from the last fiscal year, the state lottery funnelled $1 billion into the school system of Michigan. It’s more than clear, that Michigan lottery is not only legal but also a mechanism for sponsoring education. Now that we’ve established that let’s talk about what lotto games you can play. The range includes upwards of 80 different games, most of which are of the scratchcards type. While some of these games have a progressive jackpot up for grabs, there draw games like Mega Millions, Powerball that do a better job of dishing out big sums of money.
Much like the other forms of gambling in Michigan, the Michigan Lottery takes exception to underage gaming. The legal age for taking part in any of the games on the site of the Michigan Lottery is 18 years. The issue isn’t taken lightly, not in the slightest. In order to play any of the games hosted on a given lottery site, users must first make registration, in the process of which, they must provide picture ID verifying they are of legal age.
An Overview of the Michigan Gambling Market
As a result of the state-wide voting in 1996, the Michigan Gaming Control board was formed and entrusted with the legal responsibility of regulating gambling in the state. The bill of late 2020 put online sports betting and online gaming on the map of the Michigan gambling industry. Since Detroit and tribe casinos are among the eligible for remote gambling license operators, it falls to the Gaming Control’s lot to do the compliance checks and determine which ones are in line with the requirements. We already established that underage gambling in Michigan is a crime as well as in other states. So that’s the first and biggest hurdle to avoid if you want to gamble responsibly.
The Most Important Michigan Gambling Laws
Inarguably, the most important piece of legislation is the lawful internet gaming act as it legalized online gambling of the people of Michigan’s own accord. The act not only makes, all forms of wagering legal over the internet but subjects operators to elastic taxation the degree of which is determined by the adjusted gross receipts (revenue) of each operator. The minimum tax percentage is 20% – for operators whose adjusted gross receipts are less than $4 Mil. Gaming operators of native Indian tribes are taxed according to different criteria.
As for the players, there is a 4.25% tax on gambling winnings below $5,000. Win a penny more, and the state keeps back 25%. All gambling and lottery winnings are considered taxable income. Not to mention that if you fail to present a Social Security number, the tax increases from 25% to 28%. Typically the casino will automatically deduce your dues to the state from your winnings and provide you with a receipt in the end.
Now about the legal gambling age in Michigan. For lotteries, horse racing and tickets for charitable events with an element of gambling the minimum permitted age is 18 years. When it comes to casinos, only players 21 and above are allowed to enter – in coherence with the drinking age, which is also 21 years.
Resources for Responsible Gambling
All licensed for the state of Michigan operators are committed to the cause summarized by the words ‘responsible gambling’. They provide their customers with the means of getting immediate help such as a hotline and counselling. Undeniably, NCPG is at the forefront of helping not only Michigan problem gamblers but players from around the country. Live support is available 24/7, and the service is strictly confidential. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with an NCPG agent if you notice so much as a hint of problem gambling in your life.
Promoting responsible gambling to be a duty of all operators is one of the things the Michigan Gaming Control Board is there to establish. The gaming platforms themselves must contain information on the issue and to link in one way or another to the NCPG’s official website. The level of compliance of gambling operators is evaluated by the iCAP (Internet Responsible Gambling Compliance Assessment Program) through the Internet Responsible Gambling Standards.
The History of Gambling in the State
It’s fair to say that Michigan’s gambling history can be traced back to 1933 when pari-mutuel betting first became legal in some horseracing tracks in the state. That year Public Act 199 was enacted, laying the groundwork for the first licensed pari-mutuel race fixture conducted on September 2, 1933. The year 1972, The Michigan Lottery Act passed the house, whereby the state lottery was founded. All things lottery were set in motion with that piece of legislation. It wasn’t until 1988 that tribal casinos opened in Michigan. They were founded on Native American land but were and still are open for visitors irrespective of ethnicity.
In 1997, The Michigan Gaming Control Board was formed and appointed the regulatory body of the gambling industry in the state. The decision came on the heels of the 1996 Proposal E, which authorized three commercial casinos based in Detroit. Similarly, in September 2017 Brandt Iden proposed a bill legalizing sports betting in Michigan, which was only passed by the house late 2018. Finally, in December 2019, HB4311 introduced The Lawful Internet Gaming Act, thus making pretty much all forms of online gambling legal.
Famous Gamblers from Michigan
For lack of official statistic for casino winnings, we’ll abstain from speculating who’s the most successful casino gambler. However, such statistic, as well as ample televised events, are available in the poker world up to this day. Many young poker players came into prominence on account of a good performance in a major tournament. Somewhere along those lines goes the story of most famous Michigan gamblers. Let’s take a look at two of the well-known names in the poker players community of the state of Michigan.
Joe Cada
Joe Cada is the typical example of a young man living the American dream. He is a professional poker player born in 1987 in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan. He became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion, winning first prize at the age of 21. Up until that moment, Cada presents himself as a typical online poker player, accumulating upwards of $500,000 in online tournament winnings. Although he continues to make an appearance in live poker events, Joe Cada didn’t manage to surpass his 2009 achievement when he won the mind-boggling $8,547,044 in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.
Ryan Riess
The first big achievement of Ryan Riess was second place at the WSOPC main event in Hammond Indiana, making him $239,063 richer. Later the same year, he managed to cash in a few more times in various tournaments around the United States. All that pales in comparison to what Ryan Riess did in his WSOP Main Event debut in 2013. He bounced back from a position of serious disadvantage to win it all in a heads-up match against Jay Farber. The first place came with a$8,361,570 in cash, which is the biggest cash prize Riess has ever won.
Key State Figures/Facts
With its many lakes and diverse landscape, Michigan is a sight to behold. On the other hand, Detroit, the largest and most populated city in Michigan, is still known as the car capital of the world, and that has nothing to do with nature. It was and still is a heavily industrialized city, nowadays also famed for its casinos. We already made it clear the first three casinos were founded there, and the Michigan Gaming Control Board was established in light of that.
| Population | 9,987,000 |
|---|---|
| Min. Income/month | $1,672.67 |
| Largest Land-based Casino | MGM Grand Detroit |
| Gambling Commissioner | Michigan Gaming Control Board |
| Spoken Languages | English 91.11% Spanish 2.93%, Arabic 1.04%, Other 4.92% |
| Famous Sports Teams | Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons. |
| Michigan Tax Authority | Internal Revenue Service |
| Link to the State Law | http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(2b2kem2qpl03lvvvdxoe24rw))/mileg.aspx?page=chapterindex |
| Gambling Winning Tax | Up to 25% (depending on winnings amount) |
| State Website Link | https://www.michigan.gov/ |
| Michigan Gamblers | Ryan Riess, Joe Cada |
That is Michigan in a nutshell. One thing that might not become immediately obvious is the love for sports of the people who live there. Sports and sports betting are part of everyday life there. The biggest sports club names that attract the most attention are the Detroit Lions, the Michigan Wolverines, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons. Despite the gambling winnings tax, every season, bettors would back their favorite clubs up with wagers. To sum up, if you are a fan of sports or automobiles, Michigan is the place to go.
Conclusion: Final Thoughts & Future Outlook
There are no changes in the Michigan gambling law scheduled for the foreseeable future. Although the fundamental legislative framework has already been established, the first Michigan online gaming sites are expected to launch sometime in 2021. We are sure all that time will not go to waste and ultimately, it will be the bettors who will benefit from the diligent preparation. When the time is right for the first remote gambling operators to launch their services, we hope to witness a well-regulated market with a good number of games and bonuses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Online gambling is still something relatively new in Michigan, not to mention that the first operator licenses are yet to be issued. It’s only natural that bettors from the state will have questions. We are here to answer those. Below, you’ll find the commonly asked questions about gambling in Michigan and our concise answers.
Is gambling legal in Michigan?
Land-based casinos have been legal for quite a while in Michigan thanks to the gambling laws that are in effect. The most recent developments gave online gambling legal status as well. There are no operating online casinos or betting sites as of yet. An educated guess suggests that such could be expected not earlier than 2021.
What is the legal gambling age in Michigan?
The minimum gambling age in Michigan is 18 years. At this age, residents are eligible to buy lottery tickets and bet on horse racing. Casino gamblers need to be at least 21 years of age. When it comes to entering a land-based gambling premise, there are special cases in which people younger than that are allowed in.
What is the tax on gambling or lottery winnings in Michigan?
First off, in Michigan, winnings from gambling count as taxable income according to the Michigan gambling law. The gambling winnings retention rate is 4.25%. That comes in the form of a tax that needs to be paid to the IRS. However, 4.25% is the alleviated tax for small winnings. For gambling profits bigger than $5,000, the tax is 25%.
How to get a gambling license in Michigan?
If we are talking about online casino in Michigan, the first and foremost rule is that the operator needs to have a physical casino somewhere on the territory of the state to even be considered as a license applicant. Provided that's' the case, then the Michigan Gaming Control Board performs a thorough background check before its final decision.
Michigan legal gambling money goes where?
The majority of the gambling revenue tax (Michigan Lottery included) goes to the School Aid Fund. That is the State Wagering Tax (8.1% of the casinos' net revenue). When it comes to The City Wagering Tax (10.9% of the casinos' net revenue), it could be used for anything from economic development to strengthening police presence on the streets.