Ensuring fairness and honesty in gaming, The Michigan Gaming Control Board was established in 1997 and is responsible for licensing and regulating the state's commercial casinos, as well as all online casino gaming and sports betting activity conducted in the state.

Michigan is home to three land-based casinos in Detroit, as well as many other casinos across the state which are operated by local Native American tribes, in accordance to compacts entered into with the state government. The MGCB doesn't have regulatory authority over the tribal casinos, which are regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission, but is in charge of making sure that the terms of the state-tribe compacts are adhered to.

On December 20th 2019, a bill was passed authorizing the Detroit casinos and all tribe operated casinos to provide online gaming and sports-betting to the residents of Michigan. The first ceremonial wager was placed by Michigan Senator Curtis Hertel on January 22nd, 2021 and at the time of writing there are now 15 officially licensed online operators.

How to check a license

Only operators licensed by the MGCB can offer online gambling services in Michigan, and it is possible to check a company is operating legally by referring to the Licensed Internet Gaming Providers list. The list includes the all the names of the providers as well as direct links to their websites.

Patron Complaints

There are a number of options for players wishing to register a dispute, dependent on whether the incident is regarding a licensed land-based casino, Tribal Casino, or online Gaming or Sports betting provider. The player must first have attempted to resolve the issue with the operator directly, but if the outcome was not satisfactory the matter can be escalated to the MGCB. A written response about the dispute must have already been received from the operator, or the complaint will not be considered by the MGCB. The complaint can be submitted online, or via a downloadable form.

Don't regret the bet

The MGCB offers a dedicated website, www.dontregretthebet.org, which provides tips and guidance regarding gambling responsibly. Players can find information about tools and resources that are available to them, as well as self assessments to determine if their gambling habits could be problematic.

As part of the regulatory requirements, online operators must also make tools available to players to enable them to control the amount of time and money spent gambling. Examples of such measures include:

• Time limit
• Reality check
• Limits on the amount that can be deposited
• Limits on the amount that can be wagered or the maximum amount of a single wager
• Temporary account suspension/cool off periods

For players that wish to refrain from gambling for a longer period of time, the MGCB has a Responsible Gaming Database of excluded players. To register, players must choose if they wish to be excluded for a period of 1 year or 5 years and complete the application for placement in the responsible gaming database form. The form can be used to exclude from all online casinos, all online sports betting, or both.

Contact Information

Michigan Gaming Control Board

Address: 3062 West Grand Boulevard, Suite L-700, Detroit, MI 48202-6062

Tel: 313-456-4100

E-mail: MGCBweb@michigan.gov

Website: https://www.michigan.gov/mgcb/