Guide to Online Poker in Michigan

Junior Browne
July 13, 2024

Online poker has been legal in Michigan since January 2021. Even before that, Michigan poker players had been using offshore sportsbooks to get in on the online poker scene since these online betting sites do not fall under U.S. jurisdiction.

Our poker guide is to help you make the right choice when deciding which online poker operators you can trust. Most poker rooms are very similar, with the major difference between them being the amount of traffic that they attract as well as the online poker bonuses offered.

Below, our poker experts have highlighted the brands that they believe are the best online poker sites for Michigan players.

SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.8	ONLINE SINCE 1996	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS $500 Cash Bonus	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS
SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.6	ONLINE SINCE 2001	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS 20% Cash Bonus	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS
SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.6	ONLINE SINCE 2002	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS 30% Cash Bonus	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS
SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.8	ONLINE SINCE 2001	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS $250 Free Bet	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS
SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.5	ONLINE SINCE 1996	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS 100% Cash Bonus	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS
SPORTSBOOK	TRUST SCORE 9.9	ONLINE SINCE 2011	Expert Review Read Review	BONUS $750 Cash Bonus	CLAIM BONUS CLAIM BONUS

Resources:

Offshore Sportsbooks Betting Sites Guide

The Best Michigan Online Poker Sites

Our experts chose the online poker sites listed below based on strict criteria that we use to determine the best place for poker players to enjoy real money games. All of these sites are located offshore and offer several gambling services under one roof, including a poker room.

Our poker experts have chosen these sites based on the quality of service, reliability and consistency of their offerings.

Bovada – One of the busiest poker rooms in the country
BetOnline – Busy poker room with generous bonuses
Everygame – Players in Massachusetts enjoy the rakeback promotion
SportsBetting.ag – Poker players enjoy fast payouts

Is online poker legal in Michigan?

Online gambling launched in Michigan in January of 2021. None of the land-based casinos in the state have online gaming platforms, though, meaning players are better served at offshore casinos.

The international poker sites we’ve covered in this guide have decades of experience in the online poker industry. These sites offer live dealer games, weekly tournaments, and tons of other gaming opportunities.

Michigan Online Poker Sites Reviewed

In light of poker’s tremendous growth, offshore sportsbooks adjusted their business model and began including poker as part of their offerings.

Now, just because offshore sites offer poker rooms doesn’t mean they’re all good. Our guides will cover the sites that have longstanding reputations in the industry and can provide a poker-playing experience that is up to standard.

1. America’s Busiest Poker Room: Bovada

Bovada

Established 2011

Visit Bovada

9.9

Best For

Mobile Bettor 9.0

Trust 9.9/10

Banking 8.6/10

Bonuses 8.8/10

Odds 8.9/10

Customer Service 9/10

Betting Limits 9.8/10

CURRENT PROMOTION

$750 Cash Bonus

BTCSWB750 Claim Bonus

Key Features

Bovada calls itself the busiest poker room in America, which is a claim that they can back up. As one of the biggest brands in the online gambling industry, Bovada Poker is home to players from around the world.

As for their claim of having the busiest poker room in the country, they can make that claim with confidence because they are part of the PaiWangLuo Poker Network. Although the company is based out of Hong Kong, it purchased the network from an American company and rebranded it. They are home to several brands operating out of over a dozen countries. Two of the biggest markets that they operate in are the U.S. and Australia.

That last point is important to you because no matter what time you log in to play, there will be traffic in Bovada’s poker room considering the various time zones they operate out of. At the end of the day, a poker room is only as good as the traffic it can attract. In that respect, Bovada stands at the top of the hill. Providing a great online poker experience isn’t all that Bovada is exceptional at, as they also provide numerous ways for their customers to boost their bankrolls. The promo codes at Bovada add a large amount of value to the overall poker experience.

One of the things that come with playing online poker is sharp players looking for less experienced recreational players. Unlike other online casino games or even sports betting, poker is you versus other players. What that really means is that you don’t even have to be good at poker to make money. You just need to be better than your opponents.

This is the beauty of the game since even novice players can make money, as long as they are playing with players at approximately the same skill level as them.

Professional players are all too aware of this and tend to go hunting for less experienced online players so they can take advantage of them and increase their own bankrolls. They are able to spot weaker players with the help of something called a HUD.

HUD, which stands for “heads-up display,” is a piece of technology that records how your opponents play and gives you that information in the form of statistics. With this information, a veteran player can spot weaker players very quickly. Fortunately for you, Bovada does not allow HUDs, thus saving you from falling victim to these poker predators.

2. Big Sign-up Bonus for New MI Poker Players: BetOnline

BetOnline

Established 2001

Visit BetOnline

9.8

Best For

Bonus Hunter 8.5

Trust 9.8/10

Banking 8.6/10

Bonuses 8.8/10

Odds 9.2/10

Customer Service 9/10

Betting Limits 9.8/10

CURRENT PROMOTION

$250 Free Bet

FREE250 Claim Bonus

Key Features

BetOnline‘s reputation in the industry was built on the back of its ability as a market setter in the sportsbook industry. When they decided to add poker to their long list of offerings, it was always going to be done at the highest level.

Tournaments are the most popular form of poker games. BetOnline understands that and, in turn, created one of the industry’s best poker tournaments. Their Championship Poker Series is a month-long event that attracts thousands of players. With a prize pool of over $2 million, it’s easy to see why it’s a favorite of Michigan online poker players.

Just by being active during the tournament, you will be rewarded with opportunities to get even more playing time and the valuable experience that comes with it. Throughout the course of the month-long event, active players are awarded free tournament tickets.

There’s also the All-In Shootout, which is a daily event that features players that have been active in the various tournaments during the Championship Series. Seeing as players are rewarded for their previous participation, your starting stack in this particular tournament will be based on your previous action during the Series. The BetOnline promo codes are also worth taking a look at.

3. Rakeback of 36% for Online Poker: Everygame

Everygame

Established 1996

Visit Everygame

9.5

Best For

Niche Sports Fan 8.2

Trust 9.5/10

Banking 8.6/10

Bonuses 8.8/10

Odds 8.5/10

Customer Service 8.6/10

Betting Limits 9.8/10

CURRENT PROMOTION

100% Cash Bonus

BMR500 Claim Bonus

Key Features

Everygame likes to do things a little differently. When it comes to how they reward poker players, Everygame Poker provides savings on the amount of rake you pay while playing.

A rake is the cut the poker room takes from each pot played. Since players are losing money to each other and not the poker room, this is how they make a profit. The rake varies from 3-5%, and there is a cap on how much the poker room can take from a pot.

Poker players in Michigan that are playing at Everygame have enjoyed a 36% rakeback. In other words, 36% of the amount you’ve put towards the rake in the various games that you’ve played will be given back to you in the form of a bonus.

A lot of poker rooms that give you bonuses based on your gameplay do not have deposit-related bonuses. This is another area Everygame stands out with its generous welcome bonus. As a new player at Everygame, you are eligible for a 200% bonus of up to $1,000. There are also many promo codes at Everygame that new players and existing players can take advantage of.

4. Great Bonuses Get You More Action: SportsBetting.ag

SportsBetting.ag

Established 2002

Visit SportsBetting

9.3

Best For

Bonus Hunter 8.8

Trust 9.3/10

Banking 8.6/10

Bonuses 8.8/10

Odds 9.2/10

Customer Service 8.6/10

Betting Limits 9.8/10

CURRENT PROMOTION

100% Free Play

100CRYPTO Claim Bonus

Key Features

Bookmaker.eu is a brand that is synonymous with online gambling. Horse racing bettors in Michigan know this very well as they’ve been using them for horse racing, poker, sports and casino action for years. Regarding the racebook, you will have access to the top tracks from around the world.

BookMaker offers 8% in daily rebates on your action on the track in addition to several other excellent promo offers. Many racebooks offer promos based on your action so the more you play, the bigger bonus you will be entitled to. They also offer full track odds at most tracks up to post time. BookMaker is known as a home to sharp bettors, something very uncommon in the industry. As such, they have to maintain a certain level of service to keep these high-maintenance customers happy.

One of the things you will get access to that you won’t see at most other brands is head-to-head matchups between horses. BookMaker is always at the forefront of innovation in the online gambling space and if you choose to sign up with them, you will have a great time regardless of what type of action you are looking for. Plus, the generous BookMaker Loyalty Program will make sure you have a lucrative time as well.

Popular Variations of Poker

The best online poker platforms available to players in Michigan offer an impressive variety of cash games. Here are some of the most popular:

Five Card Draw: Poker in its original form. Each player starts with 5 cards. Players can then discard up to 3 cards, and they can get back as many cards as needed from the deck to make up their hand.
Seven Card Stud: The most popular version of poker before the explosion of Texas Hold’Em. Players start with two cards face down and one card face up before the first round of betting begins. Next, each player is dealt three more cards face up and another card face down with a round of betting in between. The final round of betting starts after the last down card is dealt. The best five-card hand wins.
Omaha High: Currently the second most popular poker variation. Each player starts with 4 hole cards. To make a hand, you must use 2 of your hole cards with three cards from the board. The betting rounds are the same as in Texas Hold’Em. A hand is made by using at least 2 of your hole cards and three cards from the board. The betting rounds are in the same order as when playing Texas Hold’Em (flop, turn, river).
Texas Hold’Em: The most popular version of poker. Here. players start with two hole cards. The first round of betting happens “pre-flop,” which means before any cards are dealt on the board. After the first round of betting is done, then comes “the flop,” after which the second round of betting occurs. The final two board cards are dealt with a round of betting in between each of them. The last card dealt on the board is called “the river” and the final round of betting happens after this card is dealt. You can use any combination of your hole cards and the board cards to make the best five-card hand.

Other Versions of Poker

Omaha Hi/Lo
5 Card Omaha
5 Card Omaha Hi/Lo
6 Card Omaha
6+ Hold’Em
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo
7 Card Stud Low (Also known as Razz)
Mississippi Stud
Showtime Hold’Em
Split Hold’Em
Swap Hold’Em

Michigan Poker Laws

Below we have detailed Michigan’s current poker laws:

Casual Poker & Poker for Money

A poker game among friends and colleagues would be considered casual poker. It can be considered as such as long as there is no host making a profit from these games.

Private poker rooms are illegal
A regularly hosted poker game for profit is illegal (charging an entry fee)

Land-Based Casino Availability in Michigan

There are over 25 live poker rooms in the state of Michigan. They are divided into three main areas of the state that can be defined as the “upper peninsula,” “lower peninsula” and the Detroit poker rooms.

Here is a list of some of the live poker games available in the state:

MGM Grand Detroit – Detroit, MI
Motor City Casino – Detroit, MI
Greektown Casino – Detroit, MI
Bay Mills Resort & Casino – Brimley, MI
Ciccarelli’s Sports Bar – Utica, MI
Firekeepers Casino – Battle Creek, MI
Huron Poker Room – Oscoda, MI
King’s Poker Room – Grand Rapids, MI
Langan’s All Star Poker Room – Walled Lake, MI
Northville American Legion – Northville, MI
One Eyed Jack’s Poker Room – Shelby Township, MI
Rounders Poker Room Saginaw – Saginaw, MI
Soaring Eagle Casino – Mt. Pleasant, MI
The New Saginaw Poker Room – Saginaw, MI
Waterford Card Room at 300 Bowl – Waterford, MI
Winning Hand Poker – Trenton, MI
Burton Eagles Poker Room – Burton, MI
Coruna Poker Room – Corunna, MI
Island Casino – Harris, MI
Krazy Kopz at Vision Lanes – Westland, MI
Legends Poker Place of Metamora – Metamora, MI
Momo’s Poker Room – Taylor, MI
Muskegon Poker Room – Muskegon, MI
Odawa Casino – Petoskey, MI
Rosemary Poker Room – Roseville, MI
Roundtree Poker Room – Ypsilanti, MI
The Event Spot Poker Room – Lansing, MI
Thompson Poker Room – Ypsilanti, MI
Westgate Poker Room – Cornstock Park, MI

How to Play Online Poker in Michigan

Below are the steps needed to start playing poker online:

Funding Your Account

When playing poker online with legal poker sites, the most convenient way to fund your account is via credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) or debit card. Please note that if this is how you choose to deposit, you’ll be required to provide proof of ownership of the card you used. Offshore sportsbooks must keep their reputation intact and, in order to do so, they need to confirm where the funds they receive are coming from. They can’t accept money from you until they can confirm it’s yours.

This is why our betting experts recommend cryptocurrency for depositing. Unlike credit cards, cryptocurrency transactions do not involve a third party (banks and/or credit card companies). For that reason, they have a much higher success rate and you avoid having to prove that the funds are yours. It’s a much simpler deposit process, not to mention it’s also by far the best payout method as well.

Finally, you can use bank wire transfers to fund your account. Bank transfers are the slowest banking method, but they are available.

You Can Deposit and Play Right Away

If you are unfamiliar with crypto and want to stick to credit cards, you won’t need to provide proof of ownership of the card immediately.

For the sake of convenience, most sites will allow you to make a few credit card deposits before asking for identity verification. As long as the deposit amounts aren’t too high or too frequent, you probably won’t have to complete identity verification until you ask for a payout.

Until then, you can usually fund your account and start playing right away. We do recommend completing the identity verification process before your first payout. This process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Also completing it early will usually get you higher deposit limits.

Tips for Online Poker Real Money Michigan

Below you will find some general tips for playing poker for real money online:

Basics of Tournament Play

Tournaments are the more popular form of playing poker, with the other being cash games. Tournaments have a predetermined buy-in amount, which can vary from a few dollars to a few hundred. They can also vary in size from 10 people to several hundred.

The players are divided into tables of 8-10 depending on how many people are participating. The goal is to make the “final table” which also usually means you are among those splitting the prize money.

All players in the tournament start off with the same amount of money. The blinds are raised in increments in order to force the action.

Cash Games Require a Different Strategy

Cash games require a completely different mindset than tournament play. First of all, the main difference is that in a cash game, the money you buy in with and play with is an actual cash representation of your balance. In a tournament, you can buy in for $1 yet have a starting stack of hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on the tournament.

You can also buy into a cash game as often as you want as long as you have a balance. For these reasons, cash games tend to be much more aggressive than tournaments. They also require a lot more strategy on the turn and on the river.

Due to the conservative nature of tournament play, a lot of hands are decided pre-flop or on the flop. Unlike tournament play, the blinds in a cash game remain the same. If you are new to playing cash games, we suggest you stick to playing top ten hands only until you get a better feel for the strategy and betting patterns.

Can you really make money online gambling?

It is possible to make money gambling online if you’re a professional. Most players are recreational, which makes earning a profit more difficult. Anything that someone does recreationally is usually not for monetary gain, so being a professional or treating it like a job goes hand-in-hand with making money.

With the correct mindset and discipline, it is possible to make money playing poker or betting on sports in Michigan. Here are a few tips to help you earn money gambling:

Figure Out Your Bankroll

Professional players start out with a bankroll, which is a preset amount of money that they will use to bet. If you are unsure of how much your bankroll should be, a good starting point would be to start with an amount you are comfortable losing. In other words, an amount that you could lose without it affecting your day-to-day life.

Once you’ve figured out that amount, reduce it by about 10%. You don’t want to invest too much money until you’ve gained some experience. Do not “top up” your bankroll, meaning if you start losing, don’t re-up. There are valuable lessons to be learned by sticking to your bankroll. One of those lessons might be that before you should invest in gambling, work on your strategy.

Track Your Results

If you want to make money gambling, you need to track your progress. There are so many reasons for this, most notably pattern recognition. You need to know what’s working and what isn’t, and that can only be done by tracking results.

Playing Poker in Michigan

There are no shortages of options for those of you looking to play poker in Michigan. You can go to one of the over 25 poker rooms spread out across the state.

At certain tribal casinos, you can gamble as long as you are at least 18 years of age. At the three commercial casinos in Michigan, you must be at least 21 years old because they serve alcohol on the casino floor. There are 23 tribal casinos in the state.

You can also play online poker at Bovada or any of the other sites that we have recommended in this guide. If you choose to sign up for an online poker account, you will be able to play from the comfort of your home or on the go via mobile gaming.