Michigan Poker Promotions For The Holidays

The Mitten State has a lot going for it right now, especially poker.

The University of Michigan is number one in college football (sorry, Spartans fans), the Lions are poised to win their first division title in 30 years, and Michigan online poker just became the top market in the US.

In-person poker games are alive and well in Michigan, too. The three Detroit casinos, plus numerous tribal casinos have poker rooms with cash games and daily tournaments.

More than a dozen of Michigan’s charity poker rooms also run regular tournaments. Per state law, the organizers keep 20% in those events, leaving the remaining 80% for the top finishers.

Keep reading below to see the latest at Michigan poker rooms, including end-of-year tournaments, high hand promotions and bad beat jackpots.

FireKeepers end of year events and promos

Battle Creek’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel offers multiple tournaments and cash games seven days a week inside its 26-table poker room. It’s also ending the year in style with two poker tournaments and high hand promotions.

The $100,000 Tournament of Champions leaderboard runs all year, meaning it’s probably too late to make an impact in 2023’s race. However, 2024 is right around the corner.

Each quarter’s top 90 players qualify for a $10,000 freeroll as part of the competition, and the top 90 players at the end of the year qualify for the $60,000 grand finale event. The fourth $10K quarterly tournament runs on Jan. 6, and the $60K finale on Jan. 20.

Whether or not you qualify, FireKeepers will run a Fifth Sunday $500 tournament on New Year’s Eve, beginning at noon. (For a full schedule of FireKeepers Casino’s daily tournaments, see below in the “Daily Michigan poker tournaments” section.)

FireKeepers’ two high hand promotions are as follows:

Saturday, December 16 and 30: $1,000 awarded every hour from 1-10 p.m.
Monday, January 1, 2024: $2,024 awarded every two hours from noon to 8 p.m.

Other active Michigan poker promos

If you’re looking for promos such as bad beat jackpots, high hands and bomb pots, Detroit and tribal casinos have you covered every day of the week.

MGM Grand Detroit offers bomb pots all day, every day, across all games. Every Thursday, it also has a Last Hand Jackpot that awards a pre-determined dollar value to every high hand on a chart. The player who crosses the last hand off the chart earns $10,000 on top of the assigned amount.

Additionally, MGM runs daily $500-$1,000 high hand jackpots and featured games from Tuesday through Saturday, including high-stakes NLH and PLO action on Friday and a $15/$30 ⅓ Kill Round x Round LHE/Omaha on Saturday.

More active promos throughout the state include:

$250-$500 high hand promos every 30 minutes at Hollywood Greektown Casino from 1-9 p.m. from Thursday through Monday (3-11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday); splash pots every 30 minutes from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
“3 Card Showdowns” at Motor City Casino take place every hour from 11:15 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. daily. Chosen tables deal three cards face up to every player, and the hand winner earns a cash prize between $100 and $313.
$200 high hand promos Monday through Thursday every two hours from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Soaring Eagle Casino. Prizes go up to $1,000 on Saturdays (2-11 p.m.) and $500 on Sundays (2-10 p.m.
$500 high hand promos every hour on Wednesdays (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Saturdays (7 p.m. to 2 a.m.) at Gun Lake Casino. There are also progressive jackpots for players who make a Royal Flush, and prizes depend on the suit of your hand.

Special events

Rounders Saginaw has its monthly $140 tag team on Saturday, December 16, at 7 p.m.
Odawa Casino’s monthly $250 takes place on Sunday, December 17, at 1:30 p.m.

Bad beat jackpots

Bad beat jackpots (BBJ) are some of the most attractive promotions at Michigan poker rooms. The house takes a nominal amount from each hand (usually $1) to contribute to the BBJ, which can lead to jackpots that regularly reach six figures. Although you shouldn’t try to hit a BBJ, it can pay off majorly to be on the wrong end of a giant cooler.

Here is a look at active bad beat jackpots in Michigan:

Motor City Casino (Quads over quads BBJ): $164,435
FireKeepers Casino: $100,568
Soaring Eagle Casino: $71,900
MGM Grand Detroit (Quads over quad fives BBJ): $53,172. Applies to both NLH and PLO.
Soaring Eagle Casino (Omaha BBJ): $27,000
MGM Grand Detroit (Mini BBJ) – $18,000 ($8,000 to loser, $4,000 to winner and $1,000 to everyone else at the table.) Qualifier is aces full of kings or better beaten by a higher hand.
Motor City Casino (Omaha BBJ – Tens or better): $16,798

Daily Michigan poker tournaments

Daily tournaments run throughout Michigan, available at casinos and charity card rooms. These events are the perfect option for players who want to play a tournament close to home that only lasts a few hours.

Keep reading below to see what tournaments are available near you. We’ve separated the list by casinos and charity rooms.

Caesars Windsor (Windsor, ON)

Friday: 6:15 p.m. C$245 Bounty NLH
Sunday: 2:15 p.m. C$150 NLH

FireKeepers Casino (Battle Creek)

Monday through Wednesday: 12:15 and 6:15 p.m. $50 NLH
Thursday: 12:15 p.m. $50 NLH; 6:15 p.m. RxR PLO/NLH
Friday: 12:15 p.m. $50 NLH; 6:15 p.m. $95 Mega Stack NLH
Saturday: 12:15 p.m. $50 Crazy Pineapple; 6:15 p.m. $125 NLH Green Chip Bounty
Sunday: 12:15 p.m. $200 NLH; 6:15 p.m. $50 Pineapple

Gun Lake Casino (Wayland)

Monday and Wednesday: 7 p.m. $60 NLH
Saturday: 12 p.m. $125 NLH Green Chip Bounty

Island Resort Casino (Harris)

Wednesday: 6:30 p.m. $80 NLH
Thursday: 6:30 p.m. $100 NLH Satellite to Vegas Satellite Finale ($650 value)
Sunday: 5 p.m. $60 NLH Satellite to Midwest Poker Challenge ($350 value)

Michigan charity poker room tournaments

Ciccarelli’s Sports Bar (Utica)

Monday through Wednesday: 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $40 NLH
Thursday: 1 p.m. $50 NLH/PLO Round x Round; 7:30 p.m. $50 NLH; 7:30 p.m. $55 PLO

DiCicco’s Poker Room (Shelby Township)

Friday: 1 p.m. $50 Short Deck (6+) NLH; 7:30 p.m. Pick your buy-in NLH
Saturday: 1 p.m. $50 NL Crazy Pineapple; 7:30 p.m. $55 NLH
Sunday: 1 p.m. $55 NLH/PLO Round x Round; 7:30 p.m. $100 NLH Deep Stack

The Event Spot (Lansing)

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 7 p.m. $45 NLH
Tuesday: 7 p.m. $45 NLH/PLO Round x Round

Huron Poker Room (Oscoda)

Saturday: 7 p.m. $40 NLH Rebuy

Kings Poker Room (Grand Rapids)

Thursday: 7 p.m. $75 NLH Freezeout
Friday: 7 p.m. $40 NLH Freezeout
Saturday: 12 p.m. $50 Mixed; 7 p.m. $40 NLH w/ Re-Entries
Sunday: 12 p.m. $50 Mixed; 6:15 p.m. $75 NLH w/ 1 Rebuy ($125 on third Sunday of the month)

Krazy Kopz at Vision Lanes (Westland)

Thursday: 1 p.m. $35 NLH; 7 p.m. $55 NLH/PLO Round x Round
Friday: 1 p.m. $35 NLH; 7 p.m. $55 NLH
Saturday: 7 p.m. $55 NLH
Sunday: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. $55 NLH

Legends Poker Place of Metamora (Metamora)

Thursday and Friday: 7 p.m. $10 NLH w/ Rebuys
Saturday and Sunday: 7 p.m. $20 NLH w/ Rebuys ($100 NLH first Saturday of the month)

Momo’s Poker Room (Taylor)

Thursday through Saturday: 7:30 p.m. $35 NLH

One Eyed Jacks Poker Room (Shelby Township)

Thursday: 7 p.m. $100 NLH w/ 1 Re-Entry
Friday: 1 p.m. $40 NLH w/ 1 Re-Entry; 7 p.m. $50 NLH Freezeout
Saturday: 12 p.m. $45 NLH w/ 1 Re-Entry; 7 p.m. $50 NLH Freezeout ($140 Tag Team on third Saturday of the month)
Sunday: 1 p.m. $45 NLH w/ 1 Re-Entry; 7 p.m. $60 Survivor (1 in 5 pays $240)