Michigan Gambling History: A Complete Timeline

Michigan gambling history goes back to 1933, when the state started regulating pari-mutuel horse racing. In the decades since, Michigan added a state lottery, opened the first tribally owned casino in the United States, built three commercial casinos in Detroit, and, in 2021, launched online casinos, sportsbooks, and poker.

The timeline below runs through the key dates. For where things stand now, see our guide to legal gambling in Michigan.

Michigan gambling timeline

Here are the dates that matter most, from the first regulated horse racing to the launch of the online market:

• 1933: The Racing Act of 1933 authorized and regulated pari-mutuel horse racing and created the Office of Racing Commissioner.
• 1972: Voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing a state lottery, and Public Act 239 was signed into law to create it. A separate law, Public Act 382, legalized charitable gaming such as bingo and raffles.
• Nov. 1972:  The Michigan Lottery launched with the 50-cent Green Ticket game.
• Feb. 1973: Hermus Millsaps of Taylor won the Michigan Lottery’s first $1 million prize.
• 1984: Keweenaw Bay tribal member Fred Dakota opened The Pines, a single-table casino in his garage; the Bay Mills Indian Band then opened Kings Club Casino in Brimley — the first tribally owned casino in the United States.
• 1993: The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe signed the first tribal gaming compact with the state, opening Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant.
• Aug. 1996: Michigan sold its first Big Game ticket (later renamed Mega Millions), its first multi-state lottery game.
• Nov. 1996: Voters approved Proposal E, authorizing three licensed casinos in Detroit.
• 1997: The Michigan Gaming Control & Revenue Act was signed into law, authorizing the three Detroit casinos.
• 1999: MGM Grand Detroit (July) and MotorCity Casino Hotel (December) opened.
• Nov. 2000: Greektown Casino became the third Detroit commercial casino to open.
• 2014: Michigan’s iLottery officially launched, allowing instant-game and keno-style purchases online.
• 2016: The Michigan Lottery added online draw-game sales, including Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto 47, and Fantasy 5.
• 2018: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down PASPA, letting states legalize sports betting.
• 2019: Michigan lawmakers passed a gambling-expansion package covering sports betting, online casinos, online poker, and fantasy sports; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it in December.
• Mar. 2020: The first retail sportsbooks opened in Detroit at Greektown, MGM Grand Detroit, and MotorCity.
• June – Sep. 2020: Tribal casino FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek opens the state’s first tribal casino sportsbook, Dacey’s Sportsbook. Four Winds Casino opened sportsbooks in its three tribal casinos in New Buffalo, Dowagiac, and Hartford. Little River Casino in Manistee opened a sportsbook, the first in northern Michigan. Island Resort & Casino launched the BetAmerica Sportsbook, the first in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
• Jan. 2021: Online sportsbooks, online casinos, and online poker went live across Michigan.
• 2022: Michigan joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which allowed interstate online poker.

Michigan retail and tribal casino history

Retail casino gaming in Michigan dates to 1972, when Act 382 allowed nonprofit organizations to raise funds through licensed bingo, raffles, millionaire parties, and charity game tickets. It did not authorize casinos outright, but it put the first regulated gaming framework on the books.

Tribal gaming followed. In 1984, Keweenaw Bay tribal member Fred Dakota opened The Pines — a blackjack table in his garage — to test whether the state could regulate gambling on tribal land. It could not, and the Bay Mills Indian Band soon opened Kings Club Casino in Brimley, the first tribally owned casino in the United States. In 1993, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe signed the state’s first gaming compact and opened Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, sending its first revenue share to the state in spring 1994. Michigan’s tribal casinos answer to the National Indian Gaming Commission and their tribal governments, not the state.

Commercial casinos followed in 1996, when voters approved Proposal E, which authorized three licensed casinos in Detroit. The measure was reworked and signed as the Michigan Gaming Control & Revenue Act in 1997. MGM Grand Detroit opened on July 29, 1999; MotorCity Casino Hotel followed that December, and Greektown Casino opened on November 10, 2000.

Michigan Lottery history

The Michigan Lottery began when voters approved a constitutional amendment in May 1972; Public Act 239 was signed that August, and the lottery officially launched with the 50-cent Green Ticket game in November 1972. Instant tickets arrived in 1975, and a computerized system and the Daily 3 game followed in 1977. In 1981, lawmakers directed lottery revenue into the state’s School Aid Fund.

The lottery joined the multi-state Big Game — later Mega Millions — in 1996. After years of debate over online sales, the Michigan Lottery soft-launched its iLottery in August 2014 and officially launched it that November, adding online draw-game sales in January 2016.

Michigan horse racing history

Legal betting on horse races began in Michigan with the Racing Act of 1933, which authorized pari-mutuel wagering and created the Office of Racing Commissioner — though racing itself predated the law. The number of tracks grew through the 1940s and 1950s, and the 1959 Racing Law reshaped where racing could take place. The 1972 lottery ended pari-mutuel racing’s monopoly on legal betting, and further racing laws followed in 1980 and 1995.

From 2006 to 2016, wagering revenue at Michigan tracks fell from $22.1 million to $4.2 million, and the number of tracks dropped from 10 to two. Hazel Park Raceway closed in 2018, leaving Northville Downs — which marked 100 years of live racing in 2017 — as the state’s last remaining track. Advance-deposit wagering on horse racing arrived online in June 2020.

Michigan sports betting history

For nearly 30 years, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992 barred sports betting in most of the country. On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down PASPA and handed the decision to the states. An earlier Michigan effort, the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, had already been vetoed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Michigan legalized it in December 2019, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the Michigan Lawful Sports Betting Act. The first retail sportsbooks opened on March 11, 2020, days before the COVID-19 shutdown; bettors still wagered more than $100 million in the first ten days, even after the NCAA tournament was called off. Michigan online sports betting followed in January 2021.

Daily fantasy sports in Michigan

Daily fantasy sports contests had run in Michigan since roughly 2006, well before DraftKings and FanDuel became household names. The Michigan Lawful Sports Betting Act of 2019 finally put DFS on a legal footing and required operators to hold a state license.

Michigan online gambling history

Online casinos

The push to legalize online casinos in Michigan started in 2016 with a bill from Sen. Mike Kowall; it stalled, as did a 2017 version. Rep. Brandt Iden took over the effort, and after the 2018 PASPA ruling, he widened his bill to include online sports wawgering. It passed the legislature, but Gov. Snyder vetoed it, citing potential impacts on the iLottery and the School Aid Fund.

Iden separated the sports-betting and online-casino measures in 2019, and Gov. Whitmer signed them in December. The Michigan Gaming Control Board began accepting applications in May 2020 and awarded provisional licenses that fall, and online gambling sites went live on January 22, 2021.

Online poker

Online poker was part of the same December 2019 package, after earlier attempts by Sen. Kowall and Rep. Iden had been vetoed. Michigan’s online poker rooms launched in January 2021. In 2022, the legislature authorized the state to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement alongside Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, and interstate play began on January 1, 2023.

Michigan’s gambling history: humble origins to market leader

Michigan gambling history runs from a garage blackjack table in 1984 to a legal online market that opened in 2021. Each format arrived on its own timeline — horse racing, the lottery, tribal and commercial casinos, sports betting, and finally online play — usually after a ballot measure, a court ruling, or years of legislative back-and-forth. The state’s 2022 move into multi-state online poker is a reminder that the story is still being added to.