Finding the Best Michigan Online Casinos

When we research Michigan online casinos, we use a rigorous review process that takes into account a variety of factors. We only recommend safe and trusted sites that also give you the best gaming experience on the market. Below, we outline the aspects of online casinos that help sites earn our stamp of approval. Keep the following criteria in mind, and you’ll be able to choose your favorite online casino in Michigan easily.

A Variety of Casino Games

The best Michigan real money gambling sites reflect the state’s strong land-based casino industry. Online casinos operating in Michigan feature extraordinary portfolios with hundreds of gaming options.  

If you’ve played at a casino in Michigan, chances are you’ll be quite familiar with the games available at online casinos. Even if online casino is your first experience with gambling, you’ll undoubtedly recognize some of the games on offer. You won’t need to look far to find a game that fits your tastes. Our trusted online casinos in Michigan will have a large list of available titles. 

• Slots
• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Video Poker
• Baccarat

Some online casino sites even feature live dealer games. These are live-streamed and allow for large numbers of players. The dealer is live streamed as deals the game on camera, replicating the land-based gaming experience in a digital environment. 

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Our recommended online casinos in Michigan have hundreds of games. If you’re new to the online casino world, you will often find helpful tips and hot-to-play guides. The teams at VSO and our trusted casinos want you to enjoy your experience, so we only recommend online gambling sites that give you all the resources you need to fully enjoy any online casino game.

Payment Methods

Our top Michigan casino sites will give you a number seamless and secure payment options. We only recommend casinos that accept a variety of payment methods and keep your information secure. Here are a few of the most common payment options you’ll find at any good online casino in Michigan:

Credit/Debit Card

Likely the most common payment option, credit and debit cards are accepted at most Michigan online casinos. This method is as simple as plugging in your card info and making a deposit. 

Pre-paid Cards

If you prefer not to use your personal card, you can easily fill your online casino account with a pre-paid card. VISA and Mastercard, along with a few other providers, have prepaid cards you can use at any online casino in Michigan you join from our recommended list.

Online Payment Services

PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and similar services can often be found as payment options for online casinos. Our Michigan sites typically offer online payment services to make your deposits and withdrawals quick and simple. 

Money Transfer

You can transfer money directly from your bank account to our top Michigan online casinos. It’s a flexible option because many providers offer this option. You can use ACH or e-check, and services like Western Union will allow you to quickly fund your balance. 

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a fast-growing method that offers incredibly quick payments and deposits. Bitcoin and Ethereum are two common cryptocurrencies accepted at many of Michigan’s online casinos. 

Safety and Security

You should feel secure when you’re gambling online, and our sites will give you a safe experience from start to finish. Our online casinos in Michigan keep your data and transactional information safe using high-level SSL encryption. To take it one step further, we only select casinos with fair and truly random games of chance.

Is Online Gambling Legal in Michigan?

If you look back a few years, it’s easy to find a time when Michigan appeared to be heading down a path towards strong resistance to Internet gaming. In 1999, the government actually outlawed the use of the internet for gambling, something few states have explicitly done in the online era.

However, that law was repealed in the next year, and no such prohibition has been put in place since then. Fast forward to 2019 when Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed The Lawful Internet Gaming Act. Michigan’s historically uncertain stance with regard to online gambling is now crystal clear: casinos can apply for online casino licenses. Soon, there will be a number of online casinos operating in Michigan.

Still, Michigan is still in the middle of the regulation process, so online casinos haven’t arrived as of yet. In the meantime, you can still find ways to gamble online in Michigan. Because the state has no laws stopping players from participating in internet gaming, many overseas operators accept Michigan residents. Michigan is considered a grey market jurisdiction, so for players, there are no consequences or legal issues to worry about by playing online.

Legal Online Casino Outlook in Michigan

Though there are safe online casino options already available in Michigan, full-fledged regulated online casinos are on the way. Michigan has welcomed online casinos with open arms, creating a landscape that will allow a number of casino operators to give players online gambling sites. 

Most US states only include commercial casinos in their online casino laws, leaving tribal properties to negotiate agreements separately. Michigan has taken a different approach by opening up the licensing process to all of its land-based casinos. It’s a smart move. 23 of Michigan’s 26 casinos are tribal properties. 

This creates a lot of opportunity in Michigan’s online gambling landscape. With 26 casinos able to offer online gambling sites, the future of Michigan’s online casinos looks bright. It’s safe to expect that a wide variety of regulated online casino operators will join the fray as licenses are granted. While you wait for Michigan’s legislators to finalize rules surrounding online casinos, you can enjoy our recommended sites.

Michigan’s Slow and Steady Expansion Through Present Day

Online casinos in Michigan have been a long time coming. The state has a storied past with regard to gambling.

Michigan’s journey to online gaming legalization in 2019 begins much further in the past. In 1933, the state passed an act legalizing pari-mutuel horse racing. Since then, regulations on the horse racing industry have been updated several times, and the sport remains popular, though only two tracks remain in operation: Hazel Park Raceway and Northville Downs, both located near Detroit.

The state then kickstarted modern gaming industry in 1972, when voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to their constitution in order to allow for a state-run lottery. Later that same year, Governor William Milliken signed a bill into law authorizing the creation of the lottery, and it has been running ever since. These days, players can even buy tickets and play other lottery games at bars and restaurants that are properly licensed. Obviously, the internet itself was still a long way off even in 1972, but Michigan embraced new forms of gambling, setting the stage for online casino legislation years into the future. 

Actual casinos made their first appearance in the state in 1993, when the government of Michigan completed a compact with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. That would be the first of many compacts entered into by the state; today, there are 11 such compacts with various tribes, governing the rules of tribal casinos currently operating Michigan.

Commercial casinos have also made their mark. In 1996, voters authorized a proposal to allow resorts to be built, though the language restricted them only to Detroit without actually referring to the city by name. Today, three venues operate in Detroit: Greektown, the MGM Grand, and Motor City.

The revenues from those three locations has been a serious issue for Detroit, particularly in recent years. When the city entered bankruptcy in 2013, one of the biggest issues was what would become of the tax revenues brought in through gambling. That money had become tied up as collateral to lenders, a move city officials used to avoid having to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in debt after Detroit’s credit rating plummeted. For the city, it seemed that casino revenues were the only viable road out of bankruptcy. Thankfully, a federal judge ruled in the summer of 2014 that those revenues belonged to the city itself, and could not be claimed by creditors during the bankruptcy proceedings.

All of this history shaped Michigan’s attitude toward gambling, making it somewhat of a diamond in the rough among more gambling-cautions midwestern neighbors like Iowa and Kansas. In 2019, the state legislature made its move to allow online casinos in Michigan, cementing it as a progressive proponent of online gambling in general. Under Michigan’s recent internet gaming law, every casino in the state can apply for an online casino license. It brings the state’s colorful casino history full circle, now opening up opportunities for expansion into a future that embraces online gambling.

Industry Likely to Play Big Role in State’s Future

One thing that has been proven true in Michigan time and again is that the gambling industry has become important to the economy, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon. In fact, that bodes very well for gamblers. 

Detroit’s casinos are also likely to continue to be an issue, as they – along with general economic improvement in recent years – have played a major role in sparking a resurgence in the city. But there are still many that question whether such a strong reliance on gambling revenues is smart for the long term health of the city budget, particularly when many areas are seeing profits decline because of increasing competition in the industry. The legalization of online casinos in Michigan could prove a valuable business opportunity for Detroit’s existing casinos. If the city’s casinos offer online gambling sites to Michigan players, they add a revenue stream previously untapped in the state. 

Many believe that online casinos can hurt land-based revenue, but many signs indicate that the opposite is true. Michigan online gambling sites can provide a general boost to the state’s gambling landscape, laying a foundation on which it can build an even stronger casino industry.

Play at Our Trusted Michigan Online Casinos

Now that you’re familiar with all the important information about online casinos in Michigan, you can join one of your recommended sites and start playing!

We thoroughly vet our online casino recommendations to be sure you have a seamless and fun experience. If you play at one of our Michigan online casino sites, you can rest assured you are playing with a safe and secure provider.