“Frankly, (sports betting) is a market that existed before we were legally launched,” he said. “This just happened on the black market and the grey market with offshore accounts, where you may or may not withdraw your money.” Personal sports betting began in Michigan last March, but quickly darkened when Detroit casinos closed amid the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports betting lounges reopened in the summer, closed again on November 18 and have been open with reduced capacity since December 22. One such concession was the imposition of a 12-month moratorium on commercial casinos launching their own casino websites to give tribes time to prepare their own regulations and launch plans. In addition, the bill has given tribal gambling interests more leverage in regulating online gambling. Tribes would still have been subject to certain state regulations, such as the minimum age to participate, but tribes would have had more latitude in drafting other regulations. Illegal gambling remains explicitly illegal in Michigan. MI Comp L 432.218 provides for up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for hosting an unlicensed game: The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) regulates online sports betting and sports betting at Detroit`s three commercial casinos. Retail sports betting at tribal casinos falls under the regulatory authority of federal law and tribal state gambling treaties. Overall, the biggest advantage that Michigan`s offshore online gambling sites offer players is a better selection of options. Ultimately, it`s a matter of personal preference and it`s always best to consider alternatives. With licensed and offshore locations now available in Michigan, interested players can choose the options they enjoy the most. Michigan`s gambling laws do not contain provisions regarding everyday fantasy sports.
In 2015, the Michigan Gaming Control Board expressed the opinion that DFS competitions should be considered illegal under general gambling regulations. However, the Attorney General`s Office, headed by Attorney General Bill Schütte, declined to comment on the case, stating that “general legal advice or answering hypothetical questions about legal situations is not part of the Attorney General`s mission.” As is often the case in such unclear circumstances, DFS sites continue to operate in the local market and are unlikely to decline unless prosecuted by the authorities, which does not seem likely at this time. DFS websites currently available to Michigan residents include DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo DFS, and Fantasy Draft. BetRivers offers new Michigan customers the choice of a risk-free first sports bet worth up to $500 or a $200 casino bonus when they deposit $50 or more. New customers can use the BUSA affiliate code when signing up to take advantage of one of the offers. With many tribal and commercial casinos, Michigan has a significant land-based gambling industry, which shouldn`t be too surprising since the state has some pretty strong local gambling traditions dating back to the early 20th century. Most local casinos are located near Detroit, but overall, when you`re in Michigan, you`re never too far from a gambling establishment. Other than that, Michigan has a state-run lottery, pari-mutuel betting, and charitable gaming. Since going live, Michigan`s online lottery has achieved impressive results for players. A few months after the Michigan lottery went online, it produced its first winner, worth $1,000,000. MLive.com was reported at the time that an anonymous player won a $1 million jackpot while playing Diamond Payout, an instant scratch game that is still available today.
Many other local media reports describe other big winnings of more than $100,000. Michigan`s eSports betting options will improve significantly as MGCB adds them to its approved betting catalog. This bill was rejected on the same day in 2018 as the online gambling and sports betting laws, but lawmakers revisited the issue the following year with the introduction of HB 4308. Under state law, Michigan casinos may operate an online gambling and/or online poker site. Key points of the bill include: January 22, 2021 – this is the day designated by the MGCB for the aforementioned providers to go online with their online betting platforms, and thankfully, there were no hooks on the way to that release date. Today, users can go online with a number of reputable and well-balanced sports bets from Michigan Casino and Michigan on their mobile devices and personal computers. Poker is coming soon, so we expect Michigan bettors to have access to the full range of legal online betting in the U.S. by mid-2021, including interstate poker online at existing online casinos and sports betting.
Behind the scenes, operators continued to roll and trade in hopes of being able to offer online betting shortly after MGCB began accepting license applications in May 2020. This was done in an effort to speed up the online betting industry and generate much-needed revenue for the faltering economy, but it was not expected to lead to the launch of online platforms by the end of 2020 at the earliest.