Best Casinos in Michigan: 10 Casino Resorts From Detroit to the Upper Peninsula

Michigan is one of the few states where you can also play a licensed online casino, and every legal site is tied to a real casino here. State law lets each Detroit casino and each tribe hold just 1 internet gaming license, and 15 operators are authorized, so the apps below all trace back to a real casino. That is the whole market, and nobody new can get in. You need to be 21 and physically in Michigan to play. For how the rest of the country compares, see our US gambling laws guide.

These are the top three from our Michigan hub’s own ranking, each checked against the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s list of authorized platform providers. Welcome offers change every week, so I’ve left the amounts to the operators’ own sites.

BetMGM

BetMGM runs under MGM Grand Detroit’s license, and it’s the only brand here that puts casino games and Poker in one product, with a separate sportsbook on top. If you already play at the Detroit resort, it’s the obvious one to start with.

The detail I like is the two loyalty clubs, MGM Rewards on the property and BetMGM Rewards online, and it’s worth knowing the difference before you sign up, because a quiet night on the app and a real night downtown earn in different places.

FanDuel

FanDuel is the online partner of MotorCity Casino, and in Michigan it’s licensed for casino games, sports betting and Poker. That makes it the tidiest choice if you bet on the Lions and want a few spins from the same account.

It’s the same brand as the two-story FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity, so you can bet on your phone at home and walk up to a window on Grand River Avenue on game day without learning a second system.

DraftKings

DraftKings runs through the Bay Mills Indian Community, whose Upper Peninsula resort also hosts a DraftKings Sportsbook. The Gaming Control Board authorizes it for internet casino games and internet sports betting.

It’s the pick for people who already have a DraftKings account for fantasy or sports, since the casino sits in the same app and wallet. It is not licensed for online Poker in Michigan, so Poker players are better served by the other two.

Here’s our list of the best casinos in Michigan, compared on the numbers that matter when you’re picking a night out. Every count is the operator’s own, read in September 2026, except where I say otherwise.

How I Picked These 10

I started with the casinos that are worth a trip on their own, then checked three things: a gaming floor big enough to matter, a hotel, show or golf course for when the chips run out, and a sensible drive from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago or Traverse City. I spread the list across the state on purpose, because nobody in the Upper Peninsula is driving to Detroit for one Saturday night. No casino paid to be here.

Soaring Eagle’s room count is the 2012 figure from the architecture guide Buildings of Michigan, because the resort does not publish one, and MotorCity’s gaming page says over 2,700 Slots while its Slots page says over 2,500, so I’ve used the lower number. If you’re new to the games, our casino games explained page covers the basics before you sit down.

• 210,000 square feet: Soaring Eagle’s gaming floor, which it calls Michigan’s largest.
• 26 casinos: 23 tribal casinos and 3 commercial casinos in Detroit.
• $109.72 million: what the three Detroit casinos took in August 2026, per the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
• 48% market share: MGM Grand Detroit’s slice of that month, ahead of MotorCity at 31% and Hollywood at 21%.
• 18 or 21: the door age, 21 at every Detroit casino and set by each tribe everywhere else.
• 15 online operators: the licensed apps, each tied to a Detroit casino or a tribe.

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is the best casino in Michigan for sheer scale, and it’s the one I’d send a first-timer to. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation owns and runs it at 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd in Mount Pleasant, and it has been open since April 22, 1998. The floor covers 210,000 square feet, with 2,700+ Slots and 70+ Table Games, and it’s open 24/7, 365 days a year.

There’s an 18-table Poker room, a VIP high limit lounge, Ascend Sportsbook kiosks that run 24/7 and a Bingo hall the resort calls the largest in Michigan, with sessions Wednesday through Sunday. The Slot Palace across the street adds more machines from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Why It’s the Easy Pick at 18

The minimum age is 18 for every game on the floor, Slots, tables, Poker and Bingo included, and you’ll need a government photo ID. All the indoor areas are smoke-free. The Entertainment Hall seats 3,255 and the outdoor venue 12,500, and the Soaring Eagle Waterpark & Hotel is 1.5 miles away if you’ve brought the kids.

The Access Club is free at 18. I’d book a summer concert weekend, eat at Ruth’s Chris and spend the rest of the night on the tables, and with 512 rooms in the seven-story hotel, it’s the only place in the state where I’d feel confident turning up on a Saturday without a plan and still finding both a room and a seat at the Blackjack table.

MGM Grand Detroit is the city’s headline casino and the busiest floor in Michigan’s commercial market. It opened as the first legal casino in Detroit on July 29, 1999, moved into its $800-million permanent resort on October 3, 2007, and MGM Resorts International runs it at 1777 Third Street for owner VICI Properties.

The floor has close to 2,200 Slots and almost 150 Table Games, the most tables on this list, and the Poker room is open 24/7. The BetMGM Sportsbook & Lounge has 6 windows, 33 kiosks and 60 HDTVs, and it’s open 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Rooms, Spa and Smoking

The hotel has 400 rooms and over 65 suites, and you have to be 21 to check in. The Immerse spa covers 20,000 square feet, and D.Prime Steakhouse is the special-occasion table. Smokers get the Lit Smoking Gaming Lounge, with 88 Slots and 6 tables, plus enclosed smoking parlors, and the rest of the floor is smoke-free.

In August 2026 MGM took 48% of Detroit’s casino revenue, per the Gaming Control Board. That tells you where the crowds go. For a big-city weekend with a proper spa, it’s the one I’d book.

FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek is the best-run resort in the state, and it’s the one I’d pick for a couple’s weekend. The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi opened it in August 2009 at 11177 E. Michigan Avenue, right off I-94 Exit 104, 29 miles east of Kalamazoo, 45 miles south of Lansing and 70 miles west of Ann Arbor.

The floor has over 2,600 Slots, 61 Table Games and a 21-table Poker room, and the whole place is 100% smoke-free. The Poker room runs 24 hours Thursday to Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. the rest of the week, and Dacey’s Sportsbook & Taphouse and the Aurora High Limit Lounge round it out.

Two Towers and a Strict Door

The hotel has 446 non-smoking rooms across two towers, the second of which opened on August 16, 2021 with 203 rooms. The door is strict. No one under 21 is allowed anywhere on the gaming floor, and you need to be 21 to check in.

That is the trade-off, and I think it’s a good one. You get a quieter, grown-up floor, a Four Diamond hotel and Nibi for dinner, and the Red Hot Rewards Club starts you with $5 in credits at the kiosks.

MotorCity Casino Hotel is the Detroit casino with the most local character. It’s the only locally owned and operated casino in the city, owned by Marian Ilitch since she became sole owner in 2005, and it opened on December 14, 1999 at 2901 Grand River Avenue, at the Lodge Freeway. Part of the complex is the old Wagner Baking building, where Wonder Bread was made.

The gaming page counts over 2,700 Slots and 59 Table Games, and the 12-table Poker room is smoke-free. The two-story FanDuel Sportsbook runs its windows from 9 a.m. to midnight, with kiosks open 24/7.

Rooms Getting a Refresh

The hotel has 400 rooms and suites, and a $65 million program called Elevate the Escape opened the first renovated rooms on August 11, 2026, with more floors due through the end of 2027. The Sound Board theater holds up to 2,400, and the D.Tour Spa covers 13,000 square feet.

Smoking is allowed in just one first-floor Slots section near Headlights Lounge, and you’ll need a photo ID to get in. Club Metro is free to join. I’d come here for a Red Wings or Tigers weekend and a steak at Revel.

Four Winds New Buffalo is the Chicago crowd’s casino, less than an hour’s drive from downtown Chicago at 11111 Wilson Rd. in New Buffalo. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians opened it on August 2, 2007, and it’s the largest of the three Four Winds casinos in Michigan.

The Slots page counts over 1,900 Slots, and there are 40 Table Games plus a High Limit Area with 80+ high-limit machines running from $1 to $100. The hotel has 415 rooms, and the Silver Creek Event Center seats 1,600 for shows.

Rules at the Door

You must be 21 to gamble here, and you will be asked for ID, and the W Club is 21+ too. Smoking is banned on the casino floor, in the restaurants and in the hotel lobby, and only allowed in designated smoking rooms.

Copper Rock Steakhouse is the reason I’d stay for dinner. The smaller sister casinos are Four Winds Hartford, with 450 Slots and seven tables, and Four Winds Dowagiac, with 350 Slots and six tables.

Gun Lake Casino Resort in Wayland is the most improved casino on this list. The Gun Lake Tribe opened it on February 10, 2011 with 1,450 Slots and 28 tables, about 20 miles south of Grand Rapids, and today it has over 2,500 Slots and 56 Table Games.

The High Limit Room has nine Baccarat tables, and the Poker room sits on the west side of the floor next to 131 Sportsbook, whose kiosks run 24 hours. You need to be 21, and the Detroit Free Press lists Gun Lake among the casinos that still allow indoor smoking, possibly limited to designated areas.

A New Hotel and a Four Diamond

The hotel finally opened on March 7, 2025, with 252 rooms in a tower that came as part of a $300 million expansion, and AAA gave the resort Four Diamond status in April 2026. The Wawyé Oasis is a glass atrium of 32,000+ square feet with a family pool and a 21+ VIP pool.

If you live in Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo, this is now a real overnight trip rather than a quick stop, and I’d try the Oasis in winter.

Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel is the Traverse City pick, 11 miles out of town at 7741 M-72 East in Williamsburg, about a 15-minute drive. The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians opened it on June 14, 1996 and reopened it after a major renovation on June 17, 2008.

The 56,000-square-foot floor has about 1,200 Slots from a penny to $100, a high limit room and a Caesars Sportsbook, though there’s no Poker room any more. The floor runs 24 hours from Friday to Sunday and 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Monday to Thursday, and the tables deal from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.

18 to Play, Smoke-Free Inside

You only need to be 18 to play and to book a room, though it is 21 for a drink. The floor and the 137 hotel rooms are smoke-free, and smokers head to the Onyx Bar on the third level.

The Grand Rewards card works here, at Leelanau Sands and at Crystal Shores, and a free shuttle runs to the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa and its three championship golf courses. For a summer week up north, that’s the combination I’d plan around.

Little River Casino Resort in Manistee is the best casino on the Lake Michigan shore for a road trip. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians opened it in 1999 with 600 Slots at 2700 Orchard Highway, where US 31 meets M-22, and today it has over 1,100 Slot and Video Poker machines and dozens of Table Games, with limits from $1 to $5,000.

The hotel has 292 rooms, the RV park has 95 spaces, and the event center seats 1,600. Slots run 24/7, while the tables deal from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Two Ages on One Floor

You can walk onto the floor at 18, but the two smoking gaming rooms, with 200+ games between them, are 21 and up. That’s the only place inside where smoking is allowed, apart from designated hotel rooms.

The sportsbook takes bets from $5 at 18, with twelve 24-hour kiosks, and the Rewards Club is open at 18 as well. Wolf River Golf Park is the resort’s course, and I’d bring the camper.

Island Resort & Casino in Harris is the Upper Peninsula’s big resort, 15 miles west of Escanaba at W399 US 2 & 41. The Hannahville Indian Community owns it outright, and it grew from the Hannahville Casino of 1985, renamed Chip-In Casino in 1987, into a new casino in December 1998 and the 11-story Palm Tower in April 2007.

The homepage counts over 1,150 Slots, and there are Table Games, a Poker room, live Bingo and the Island Sportsbook, which opened in September 2020 as the first sports betting venue in Upper Michigan and Wisconsin.

Golf, Shows and a Bigger Hotel

The hotel now has 454 rooms and suites, even though the resort’s own golf page still says 300 rooms and 14 suites. The Island Showroom seats 1,315, the RV park has 42 sites from May 1 to November 30, and there are 36 holes of championship golf at Sweetgrass and Sage Run.

Sweetgrass was named the 2022 National Golf Course of the Year, and it’s the reason I’d drive this far. Island Club membership starts at 18.

Kewadin Sault Ste. Marie is the flagship of five Kewadin casinos owned by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, at 2186 Shunk Rd. in Sault Ste. Marie. The tribe’s board voted to open Kewadin Casinos in 1984, and the group now has nearly 2,200 Slots across its five sites.

The Sault casino has more than 800 Slots, is open 24 hours and deals live tables from 4 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday and Sunday and until 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday. The DreamMakers Theater seats 1,500, and the hotel has over 300 rooms, 260 of them fully renovated.

18 to Play, With a Check-In

The gambling age is 18, but it’s 21 for alcohol and for the Caesars Sportsbook kiosks, and anyone aged 18 to 20 has to check in with security every visit. Every Kewadin casino is non-smoking.

The Northern Rewards Club covers all five. It is a small-town casino rather than a resort, but on a trip to the Soo Locks I’d happily spend an evening here.

Detroit has three commercial casinos, all within a short ride of each other downtown, and all three are 21 and over by state law. MGM Grand Detroit is the big resort, MotorCity is the locally owned one, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown sits in the Greektown district.

Which Detroit Casino Is Best?

MGM Grand Detroit is the best all-round pick, with almost 150 Table Games, a 24/7 Poker room and 48% of the city’s casino revenue in August 2026. MotorCity wins on atmosphere and its 12-table Poker room, and Hollywood wins on high-limit tables.

Hollywood Casino at Greektown

Hollywood Casino at Greektown opened on November 10, 2000 at 555 East Lafayette Avenue, under the majority ownership of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and took the Hollywood name in May 2022. PENN Entertainment runs it and VICI Properties owns the real estate. It has 2,200+ Slots, with 90+ high-limit machines that go up to $100, and a Baccarat Room with eight tables, bets up to $10,000 and 24-hour play.

There’s also a private salon with six Blackjack tables, and Double Down Madness Blackjack is only here. The smoke-free gaming is on the first floor, and you need to be 21 to wager, to rent a room and to eat in its casino restaurants. Its online and retail sportsbook is now theScore Bet, after ESPN Bet customers moved over on December 1, 2025.

Is There a Casino in Canada Near Detroit?

Yes. Caesars Windsor is across the river at 377 Riverside Drive East, with 758 rooms and table limits up to $50,000 on Craps and Roulette. You can enter at 19, though Caesars Rewards is 21+, and it has been smoke-free since 2006. Bring your passport.

By gaming floor, the biggest casino in Michigan is Soaring Eagle, with 210,000 square feet, a claim the architecture guide Buildings of Michigan backs up. By tables, it’s MGM Grand Detroit with almost 150, and by hotel, Soaring Eagle’s 512 rooms and Island Resort’s 454 lead my tribal picks.

The Numbers You’ll See Elsewhere

Plenty of casino lists repeat figures the operators no longer back up. MGM Grand Detroit still gets credited with 3,500 Slots, a number its own contact page repeats, while its homepage says close to 2,200. Four Winds New Buffalo turns up with over 3,000 Slots and over 60 tables against its own 1,900+ and 40, and FireKeepers with 2,900 Slots, 76 tables and 243 rooms, when it now counts 2,600+, 61 and 446.

Up north, Turtle Creek gets 160 rooms on Wikipedia against its own 137, and Bay Mills gets 143 or 144 against the 273 it lists today. Wikipedia still describes Greektown’s sportsbook as ESPN Bet, too.

Upper Peninsula and the North

Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley has 600+ Slots, 273 hotel rooms, a 124-site RV park and a DraftKings Sportsbook, and it has offered gaming since July 4, 1984. Odawa Casino in Petoskey and Leelanau Sands, 20 miles north of Traverse City, are both 21 to enter, even though Leelanau Sands’ sister casino, Turtle Creek, lets you in at 18. Leelanau Sands has 300+ Slots and a 50-room lodge.

The minimum age at a Michigan casino is 21 in Detroit, set by state law, and at a tribal casino it’s whatever the tribe decides. That’s why the age swings from floor to floor, and why a group of 19-year-olds can play at Soaring Eagle but not at FireKeepers.

Which Michigan Casinos Are 18 and Over?

Of my picks, Soaring Eagle, Turtle Creek, Little River and Kewadin let you gamble at 18, and Island Resort opens its Island Club at 18. MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity, Hollywood at Greektown, FireKeepers, Four Winds, Gun Lake, Odawa and Leelanau Sands are all 21. Even at an 18 casino, alcohol is 21, and so are some rooms, like Little River’s smoking floor and Kewadin’s sports kiosks.

ID, Hours and Dress

Bring a government photo ID everywhere. MotorCity asks every guest for one at the door, and Kewadin makes 18 to 20 year olds check in with security each visit. Hours vary more than you’d think. Soaring Eagle and Kewadin Sault never close, but Turtle Creek only runs 24 hours at weekends and Little River’s tables stop at 2 a.m. midweek.

Dress codes are relaxed, but MotorCity bans see-through clothing and offensive material, and you’ll be asked to leave if you break its rules.

Can You Smoke in a Michigan Casino?

Sometimes. Michigan’s Dr. Ron Davis Law, in force since May 1, 2010, lets a casino that already existed allow smoking in its gaming area, and tribal casinos are outside it altogether. So MGM and MotorCity keep smoking to set sections, while FireKeepers, Soaring Eagle and every Kewadin casino are completely smoke-free inside.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board regulates the three Detroit casinos, which exist because voters approved Proposal E in November 1996. State law bars anyone under 21 from a Detroit gaming area, and knowingly wagering under 21 is a misdemeanor that can bring up to a year in a county jail or a $10,000 fine.

Tribal Casinos Answer to Their Own Regulators

Tribal casinos are not subject to Michigan gaming laws. They run under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and their tribal-state compacts, and they’re regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission and each tribe’s own government, while the board’s staff inspect for compact compliance on the Governor’s assignment.

The five-member board itself has no involvement with tribal casinos. Online is the exception, where every app answers to the board, including the tribal ones. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed online gaming into law on December 20, 2019, and our US online casino guide shows where Michigan fits nationally.

If gambling stops being fun, call the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline on 1-800-270-7117. It’s staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and calling 1-800-GAMBLER from Michigan connects you to the same service. These are the numbers to keep:

• Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline: 1-800-270-7117.
• National Problem Gambling Helpline: call or text 1-800-MY-RESET.
• Gaming Control Board, responsible gaming: 888-223-3044.

The Disassociated Persons List bars you from the three Detroit casinos for life, with a removal request possible after 5 years, while the Responsible Gaming Database covers online casinos and sportsbooks. The list only covers Detroit, so at a tribal casino ask the casino itself about exclusion. The board’s DontRegretTheBet.org campaign has more tools, and Michigan residents can claim a free Gamban license for blocking software.

The simplest tool is still the best one, and that is deciding how much you’re willing to lose before you walk in, taking that much in cash and leaving the cards in the car. Our Responsible Gambling guide covers the rest.