Best 5 Michigan Online Casinos

Michigan Online Casinos Live Now!

The Michigan Gaming Control Board officially launched online casinos on January 22, 2021. Additional casinos have launched in February and there are currently a dozen online casino apps launched in Michigan.

These are our editor’s 5 favorite casino apps to launch in Michigan, along with why our editors love them 

• Golden Nugget >> Best No Deposit Offer ($30 Free) + Largest selection of online slots
• FanDuel Casino >> Best for Sports Fans (Excellent casino and sportsbook)
• WynnBet Casino >> Best for Free Spins (200 Free spins)
• BetRivers Casino >> Best for Deposit Bonus (1x playthrough)
• BetMGM Casino >> Best for MGM players (Deposit/withdrawal at MGM Detroit)

Best For Michigan Online Casinos For March 2021

List of Online Casinos In Michigan

Here is the full list of the online casino apps that have launched in Michigan.

• Golden Nugget Casino
• FanDuel Casino
• WynnBET
• BetRivers Casino
• BetMGM Casino
• William Hill
• DraftKings Casino
• TwinSpires
• Stars Casino
• Barstool Casino
• Four Winds Casino

Legalization Of Online Casinos In Michigan

Michigan legalized online gambling at the end of 2019. It took time, though, for state legislators to finalize rules and regulations and to audit casino apps before they were able to debut in the state. After the law passed, the Michigan Gaming Control Board issued a timeline that anticipated the process would take more than a year. That meant that legal online casino apps wouldn’t launch until sometime in 2021.

Seeing an opportunity to increase state revenue before the close of the year and to make up for lost revenue due to COVID-19 related casino closures, legislators did their best to speed up this process. In 2020, Richard Kalm, the director of the MGCB, said the state was making significant progress and launch was imminent. Unfortunately, they were unable to speed up the process to launch before the end of 2020. 

On January 19, the MGCB officially announced that 8 online casino apps were ready to launch on Friday, January 22, 2021. Michigan players greeted the news with eager anticipation. More casinos launched in the weeks that followed.

Launch Of Michigan Online Casino Timeline:

• December 20, 2019: Online gaming legalized
• March 11, 2020: Retail sportsbooks launch in MI
• March 6-August 5, 2020: Detroit’s commercial casinos closed due to COVID-19
• September 23, 2020: MGCB held public hearings
• End of October 2020: Final economic impact statement expected
• November 2020: MGCB hoped to launch in November but gambling rules still need to be approved by legislators who canceled their November session because of Covid-19.
• December 2020: The Michigan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules met on December 1, 2020, to move things forward. The MGCB had to cancel its December meeting due to COVID, meaning the next meeting was not scheduled until January 12, 2021.
• January 19, 2021: The MGCB announced that online gaming apps would launch on January 22, 2021.
• January 22, 2021: The first 8 online casino apps launched in Michigan.
• January 29, 2021: The MGCB announced two more casino apps would launch along with online poker.
• February 16, 2021: The MGCB announced the launch of the Four Winds App, the first Michigan app branded under the name of a Michigan tribal casino.

Included below are the casino apps that led the way in Michigan as well as additional casino partnerships that were announced during 2020. It is unclear when these additional apps will launch. A few other online casino brands may also launch at some point in Michigan.

MI Online Casino Gambling Sites & Apps

Golden Nugget Michigan

Golden Nugget is a well-established name in gambling, with an iconic Las Vegas casino and the most successful online casino in New Jersey. Now, Golden Nugget is in Michigan, thanks to a partnership with Ojibwa Casino, which is owned and operated by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

Golden Nugget’s Michigan access granted through the partnership allowed the brand to ramp up its online gambling and sports betting business in Michigan.

See our full Guide To Golden Nugget Michigan Online Casino.

FanDuel Michigan Casino

FanDuel may be known for its sportsbook, but it also has an online casino. FanDuel’s online casino is available through its existing sportsbook app, and MotorCity Casino Hotel’s partnership gives FanDuel access to Michigan’s online gaming market.

The online casino was only available in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, making Michigan its third state.

In New Jersey, bettors will see FanDuel’s online casino under the Betfair brand name. It has blackjack, roulette, and baccarat games ready to entice new bettors. For bettors who want a more realistic experience, Betfair’s (read: FanDuel’s) online casino has a thriving live betting section available for all sorts of table games.

Finally, this online casino is filled to the brim with slot games. Whatever brightly colored theme bettors are attracted to, their taste is catered to in this wide selection of games.

WynnBet Casino Michigan

The WynnBet Casino Michigan app is available for iOS and Android devices and offers around 150 different games. The same platform also offers sports betting, so you can do both using the same account.

You can find some of the most popular slots at WynnBet Casino, including Monopoly Megaways and Divine Fortune. The full selection consists of the following games:

• Classic and Video Slots
• Progressive Slots
• Casino Poker (Digital and Live Dealer)
• Blackjack (Digital and Live Dealer)
• Roulette (Digital and Live Dealer)
• Live Dealer Baccarat
• Live Dealer Dream Catcher

New players at WynnBet Casino in Michigan can receive up to 200 free spins on the Divine Fortune slot machine along with a deposit bonus of up to $1,000 dollars. Each free spin is worth $0.20, so it’s an exciting welcome bonus that you won’t find anywhere else in Michigan.

Really, the WynnBet Casino is an extra feature to complement the WynnBet Sportsbook. But for an add-on, there’s a lot to enjoy.

BetRivers Michigan

Little River Casino Resort in Manistee Michigan is partnering with Scientific Games and Rush Street Interactive to launch its BetRivers Online Casino. 

The agreement, announced in June 2020, brings  Rush Street Interactive, parent company to the BetRivers online gaming brand, to Michigan. Little River Casino Resort’s partnership with Rush Street Interactive also includes retail sports betting.

The big names backing the BetRivers Casino means some of the top online slots are now in Michigan. And BetRivers has a massive library of slots, including progressive slot jackpots. They also are offering blackjack, several varieties of roulette, and baccarat.

BetMGM Michigan

Roar Digital is currently providing a sportsbook to the MGM Grand in Detroit, but it has an online casino, too. It has several apps, including BetMGM and PartyCasino.

Bettors will find familiar table games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. They’ll also find live dealers available who will deal cards and call wins and losses in real-time, just like a regular table. Roar Digital also has countless slot games that are just as colorful as anything on the Strip.

DraftKings Michigan Casino

DraftKings is also known mostly for its sportsbook but is quickly gaining a reputation for a strong online casino in a handful of states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

DraftKings Sportsbook and Draftkings Casino launched in the state as a license partner of Bay Mills Resort & Casino. 

William Hill Casino

William Hill is a world-renowned sportsbook based in the UK and available in several US states. And the launch of the William Hill Casino Michigan means this brand has an exciting opportunity to reinvent itself, which can only be a good thing for players.

Michigan is expected to be one of the most competitive online betting markets in the US, so you can look forward to a wide range of promotions at William Hill Casino. From the initial welcome offer to ongoing bonuses, both new and established members will have a lot of opportunities to win for free.

TwinSpires Casino Michigan

With over 400 different games, TwinSpires Michigan Casino has something for almost everyone. This includes progressive slots with over $1 million jackpots, digital table games, and Live Dealer rooms.

For those in Michigan, you can switch from your TwinSpires Casino account to the sportsbook or horse racing section, all through the same account. This makes it a true all-in-one online betting site and app.

The TwinSpires Casino Michigan welcome bonus is risk-free betting for the first seven days up to $500. That means if you win more than you lose, you can simply withdraw your winnings or keep playing. But if you lose more than you win, they’ll credit the difference back into your account. 

You can also try out all the digital games for free in practice mode before you sign up as well, offering great transparency to those considering joining TwinSpires Casino Michigan.

Stars Casino

Thanks to a partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian Gaming Authority, The Stars Group is in two casinos:

• Odawa Casino, Mackinaw
• Odawa Casino, Petoskey

The Stars Group is probably not as well recognized a brand in the online gaming group as its branded apps are. Stars Group operates FOX Bet Sportsbook, PokerStars, and the Stars Casino, which all launched in Michigan at the end of January 2021.

Barstool Casino

Barstool is most known for its Barstool Sportsbook app and its dedicated group of sports fans. On February 1, 2021, though, Barstool launched Barstool Casino in Michigan in partnership with Greektown Casino in Detroit. Barstool Sportsbook was one of the first sports betting apps to launch in Michigan, with the casino app launching just days later.

The Barstoool Casino app is supported by casino gaming brand Penn National Gaming, which players might be familiar with through its Hollywood Casino brand in Pennsylvania. It will be interesting to see how online gamblers find the Barstool Casino app, or if it will mostly attract traditional sports bettors.

Four Winds Casino App

Poker, roulette, and of course blackjack are available on the Four Winds Casino App, now available on web browsers, Android devices, and iOS devices. The Four Winds app provides access to both online sports betting and casino gaming from one app. 

New to online casino gambling? Four Winds gives you new member specials, like a $20 free bet and a 200% deposit bonus.

Michigan Online Casinos Announced

In addition to the casinos that launched on January 22, 2021, there are several additional casino brands that announced partnerships with local casinos. It is unclear when these apps will launch.

PointsBet

PointsBet joins forces with the Lac Vieux Desert Public Enterprise and Finance Commission (LVD) to offer online casino gaming and sports betting under the license of Northern Waters Casino Resort.

The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians owns Northern Waters Casino Resort. Per the agreement, it appears that both the online sports betting and casino products under this license will function as a collaboration between PointsBet and LVD.

FireKeepers Casino

Scientific Games is currently providing its technology to power the live sportsbook at FireKeepers Casino and Hotel. A FireKeepers online casino is slated to launch in Michigan, also in collaboration with Scientific Games.

Online casino sites powered by Scientific Games technology in other states include blackjack, slots, roulette, and baccarat. There are also live dealers available for bettors looking for a realistic casino experience.

Scientific Games offers so many different games because of its content aggregation service. It uses its vast web of partnerships to provide access to many different games. When online casinos come to Michigan, BetRivers will have a massive selection of games to offer their customers.

Online Casinos That Could Come To Michigan

Unibet

Unibet does business as a well-established international gaming brand that’s beginning to expand into the legal US sports betting and online casino industry. Unibet started its US business plan with online gaming platforms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

Unibet has an agreement with Caesars Entertainment (now owned by Eldorado Resorts) to launch online gaming in states with Caesars-owned properties. Caesars/Eldorado Resorts doesn’t own any casinos in Michigan, however.

The Pennsylvania and New Jersey versions of the Unibet platform operate in agreements outside of the Caesars partnership, however. A similar arrangement could bring Unibet online casino to Michigan.

Caesars Online Casino

With the success of Caesar’s online casino app in New Jersey and Michigan, we anticipate that they will launch in Michigan as well. If not in partnership with Unibet, they could seek a partnership with a local Michigan casino to launch in 2021.

Commerical Casino Partnerships

Michigan’s casino industry includes three Detroit-area commercial casinos, as well as 23 tribal casinos located throughout the state. Online partnerships for the three commercial casinos are as follows:

Tribal Casino Partnerships

In a situation unique to Michigan, both tribal and commercial casinos can partner with technology companies to offer legal online casino gaming. Several of the state’s tribal casinos already announced agreements to launch online sports betting, and those partnerships are as follows:

What Are Online Casinos And What Do They Offer?

Online casinos are apps and websites that offer casino games from the comfort of players’ homes. Some of them involve real money, while others are free-to-play social games. They offer the kinds of card games bettors would expect to find at a casino, including blackjack, roulette, and on some websites, baccarat. But there are also slot games and games with live dealers available for those who want a real casino experience.

Even better, many of these online casinos offer bonuses to new bettors.

Online Casino Bonuses

One of the ways that online casinos–and most online gaming products–entice new bettors is by offering bonuses on the first few bets. There are two major types of bonuses. The first is a welcome bonus that puts money in a bettor’s account (with strings attached). The second offers risk-free bets, which act more like insurance than truly free bets.

Welcome Bonuses

Welcome bonuses are what they sound like. When bettors sign up and verify their accounts, online casinos will deposit a little extra money. Some bonuses arrive in customer accounts upon sign up and verification, like this $25 deposit from Hollywoodcasino.com. These are called no-deposit bets, because bettors don’t have to deposit their own money to earn a bonus. They also tend to be small amounts.

Deposit bets on the other hand require bettors to put money into their account before getting anything back. Take this $500 bonus from Hollywoodcasino.com that matches deposits up to $500. That means for every dollar a new bettor deposits into his account, Hollywood.com will add one dollar, until it pays out $500.

This matching makes it easier for bettors to pour money into their accounts and make larger bets. Online casinos want bettors to make multiple wagers and learn to enjoy them. Based on how widespread welcome bonuses are, this tactic seems to work quite effectively.

Risk-Free Bets

Despite the name, risk-free bets do require bettors to risk some money before receiving a free bet. This Golden Nugget Casino welcome offer spells the deal out pretty clearly. Bettors must place a wager, then get up to $100 back if they lose. It’s more of a refund for a lost bet than a risk-free bet. Some bettors may not think much of a small refund for a losing bet, but it can make anxious new bettors willing to give online casinos a try.

What’s The Difference Between Legal And Illegal Online Casinos?

Like online sportsbooks, online casinos have tell-tale signs that indicate their legitimacy. There are a few signs that bettors can watch for when they’re looking for legitimate online casinos in Michigan next year.

First, all online gambling websites must display the compulsive gambling hotline on their websites. It’s required by law in Michigan, and bettors will be hard-pressed to find any legitimate online gambling websites without it.

However, Michiganders will have a particularly easy time identifying legitimate websites. All online casinos must be partnered with eligible land-based casinos. These sites must also display proof of their license reasonably clearly.

These are important signs of quality to watch for. Missing them could lead bettors to risk funneling money into an account that will never pay out.

How Online Casinos Are Regulated

Commercial online casinos must be licensed by their state gaming boards before they’re allowed to go live in any given state. Michigan’s online casinos will be regulated by the Michigan Gaming Control Board–pending written regulations, of course.

However, tribal casinos have their own regulatory body. The National Indian Gaming Commission writes and enforces regulations on tribal casinos across the country. Tribes run casinos themselves, but the National Indian Gaming Commission must review and approve each tribe’s gaming compacts.

And to top it all off, all these regulatory bodies require casinos to pay bettors their winnings. Legitimate online casinos will not only pay winnings, but they will also have processes to resolve customer disputes. The same cannot be said for offshore scam sites accountable to no one.

How Bettors Collect Their Winnings From Online Casinos

Bettors get paid from online casinos by withdrawing from their gaming accounts. For example, FanDuel will process withdrawals through:

• PayPal
• Bank Transfer
• Check in the mail

It’s just a matter of bettors checking the option to withdraw in their online accounts. Remember though, non-cash bonuses don’t count toward cash withdrawals. A “free spin” worth $100 isn’t a free $100. Unless it’s hard-won cash, it doesn’t count toward a bettor’s withdrawals.

Everything Else Bettors Need To Know About Online Casinos In Michigan

Online casinos are already in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and a few other states. They offer familiar staples like:

• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Baccarat (albeit not universally)
• Slot Games

Many, but not all, online casinos also offer live dealers for many of these games.

Although online gaming is legal, the regulations governing licensing and online operations still need to be written. Those regulations won’t be ready until 2021, but that hasn’t stopped Michigan’s casinos from preparing.

Every Michigan casino with a sportsbook deal has partnered with a company that also offers an online casino. PointsBet is the only sportsbook operator without an online casino, but its partnership with Penn National Gaming could give its partner casino access to online casino products in 2021.

As industrious Michiganders explore the online casino landscape, they should watch for signs that the online casino they’re browsing is legitimate. State-licensed online casinos will:

• Partner with licensed land-based Michigan casinos
• Display the compulsive gambling hotline number on its website
• Show clear evidence of its license per Michigan state law

The online casino landscape is dense, but it’s part of the ongoing evolution of the gaming industry. It began with sports betting legalization, but the wave of innovation sweeping the country’s gaming industry will bring online casinos to Michigan next.

Michigan Online Casinos

There’s a lot to digest about the impending arrival of online casinos to Michigan. Here are a few questions that either come up often from new bettors or which may need clarification on their own.