When will online poker launch in Michigan?

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After years of attempts, Michigan online poker launched on Jan. 29, 2021, when PokerStars went live.

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Will I be able to play poker with players in New Jersey and Pennsylvania?

Michigan’s governor recently signed the interstate online poker bill into law, but the law doesn’t automatically set up a pact between other states. That is now up to the MGCB. It is unclear whether such a deal will be made in 2021.

One option is for Michigan to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association. The MSIGA allows New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware to share player pools.

Still, multi-state poker could be on its way to Michigan. It’s likely a must-have for the online poker market in the Great Lakes State to survive long-term. Michigan is slightly larger than New Jersey, where online poker is barely surviving despite pooling players with Nevada and Delaware.

Adding states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, to the MSIGA over the next few years would certainly be a boost to the US online poker market.

Online poker in Michigan

Because sports betting and online casinos will likely generate more revenue than online poker, the latter verticals took priority. Even so, online poker was only a week behind the rest.

Only existing casino operators, which include three commercial casinos in Detroit and 12 tribal casino operators throughout the state, are able to procure online gambling licenses.

Each will be allowed one online casino brand and one online poker brand per license, up to two total brands apiece.

This means additional poker sites could be in the cards. WSOP and 888 Poker are two of the bigger names that have not found a path into Michigan but are available in other states with legal online poker.

Michigan online poker partnerships

PokerStars + Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

Global online poker giant The Stars Group secured a partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Gaming Authority in early January 2020.

The deal gives The Stars Group first-skin market access for all gambling verticals in Michigan, including online poker.

The Stars Group owns and operates PokerStars, which operates in NJ and PA. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians operates three Michigan tribal casinos, with the largest being the Odawa Casino, near Petoskey.

The Stars Group has secured a provisional license from the Michigan Gaming Control Board. However, it appears it’s a matter of time before PokerStars Michigan launches.

BetMGM Poker + MGM Grand Detroit

For a long time, it was understood that MGM Resorts International and partypoker’s parent company GVC Holdings would join the online poker market in Michigan. The two companies established a 50/50 joint venture sports betting and online gaming platform for the US in July 2018.

However, BetMGM Poker will be the brand available in Michigan in 2021.

The launch of partypoker Michigan through MGM Grand is no longer a go, but there are other ways for partypoker to enter the Michigan online poker market.

How Michigan online poker will work

Michigan’s online poker will launch as a fenced-in market.

Players who are 21 years or older and within state lines will be eligible to play online poker cash games and tournaments.

Online poker operators will use geolocation technology to ensure all live players are inside the state.

Players will need to sign up for an online account with an operator of their choice and go through identity and age verification before they can play.

One day, state lawmakers may enter into a multi-state compact to allow operators to share player pools with sites in other poker states.

A clause initially included in the state’s online gambling bills that would have directly facilitated an interstate compact was removed before the legislation was passed.

Lawmakers have indicated its removal was intended to address multi-state progressive slot jackpots. Therefore, multi-state poker is still a possibility down the road.

Online poker bonuses and rewards

Michigan online poker sites will offer free play to attract new customers.

Tax breaks allowing Michigan online poker operators a percentage of gross receipts for free play over the first five years of operation all but guarantees this.

Plus, giving free bonus cash as an incentive to sign up has proven to be a successful poker marketing strategy elsewhere.

PokerStars PA has shot out of the gate, posting four to six times the revenue it averages in NJ.

Players who open a PokerStars account in Pennsylvania using the PokerStars PA bonus code PLAY30 and deposit at least $20 will earn $30 in free play.

This offer includes $20 in free play and $10 in Spin and Go tickets.

New PA players also receive a ticket to the depositor freeroll event on the last Sunday of every month. It features cash prizes and a zero-entry fee.

PokerStars’ players in Pennsylvania can also use the promo code STARS600 when they sign up and make their first deposit (or three qualifying deposits within 60 days), and can also earn a 100% bonus of up to $600.

Players need to earn redemption points to unlock the bonus, but get 5 points for every $1 paid in tournament fees or rake in most games. Once earning 100 redemption points, PokerStars PA will release $10 in bonus cash into their account.

PA players can only receive the free-money bonus or the deposit bonus, not both. PokerStars Poker in Michigan should roll out with something similar.

Any tournaments that launch will attempt to stay competitive with a bonus structure to try to attract new players.

Fund your online poker account

There’s little doubt Michigan online poker operators will want to make getting your money on and off the sites as easy as possible.

That means offering a variety of deposit and withdrawal options, including third-party payment processors like PayPal, debit or credit cards, and cash.

Here’s an example of the variety of deposit methods at PokerStars PA:

• Instant E-checks: ACH payment.
• Skrill: A secure online third-party payment option.
• Mastercard or Visa: Credit or debit card transactions through approving issuing banks.
• Neteller: A secure online third-party payment option.
• Stars Transfer: Instant deposits with online banking.
• PayNearMe: Make a cash payment at retail locations, including 7-Eleven and CVS.
• PokerStars Play+ Card: This prepaid card pairs to a Stars’ account.
• Cash Deposit: Cash at the Mount Airy Casino cage.

Poker and cardrooms in Michigan

There’s a massive live poker scene in Michigan with as many as 10 live poker rooms operating across the state.

Walk into any one of the Michigan poker rooms on this list, and you’ll find securing a seat at affordable stakes is as easy as asking for one.

Bay Mills Resort & Casino

Bay Mills Resort & Casino, in Brimley, features a four-table poker room that is open 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

There are regular cash games and low-buy-in tournaments. Players must be at least 18 years or older.

FireKeepers Casino Hotel

The newly renovated 26-table poker room at FireKeepers Casino Hotel, in Battle Creek, is the premier poker room in the state.

The room spreads Texas Hold’em, Omaha and stud cash games at a variety of low to mid-stakes. Plus, there are low to mid-stakes buy-in tournaments every day, including a regular stop on the popular Mid-States Poker Tour.

Promotions include a progressive bad beat jackpot.

Greektown Casino Hotel

Greektown Casino Hotel, in Detroit, features a 12-table poker room offering Texas Hold ’em and Omaha games. There are regular tournaments and high-hands promotions.

Gun Lake Casino

Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, features a 14-table poker room spreading Texas Hold’em and Omaha games.

There are low-stakes tournaments happening five days a week, and promotions include a bad beat jackpot.

Kewadin Casino

Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center, in Sault Ste. Marie, features a four-table poker room open Wednesdays through Sundays.

There are low-stakes tournaments on Wednesdays and cash games every day.

MGM Grand Detroit

The poker room at MGM Grand Detroit features 17 tables with Texas Hold’em and Omaha action.

There are bounty tournaments three days a week and promotions include splash pots, bad beat jackpots and hot-seat drawings.

MotorCity Casino Hotel

The MotorCity Casino Hotel, in Detroit, features a 17-table poker club spreading Texas Hold’em and Omaha games.

There’s a regular tournament calendar, and promotions include a bad beat jackpot, high-hands and a gas card giveaway.

Ojibwa Casino Baraga

The Ojibwa Casinos, in Baraga, spreads poker on a single table running on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m.

Ojibwa Casino Marquette

The Ojibwa Casino, in Marquette, has poker on three tables on Fridays and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, in Mount Pleasant, features a 14-table poker room open 24/7.

There’s a six-day per week tournament schedule and promotions include a bad beat jackpot, early bird rake, lucky ticket draws and high-hands.

The room spreads Texas Hold’em, Pineapple, Crazy Pineapple, Omaha, seven-card stud and Razz. Multi-game formats include round by rounds, dealer’s choice, HORSE, SHOE and HOP. Players may request any game type with any limit.

888 Poker NJ is a regulated online poker site in New Jersey that operates under the Bally’s internet gaming license.

Players should note that 888 Poker does not share liquidity with the international site of the same name, nor does it share traffic with 888 Poker-branded sites in Delaware.

It does, however, share liquidity with WSOP NJ, across a variety of cash games and tournaments, including lower-limit cash games and Sit ‘n Gos (SNG). The duo also combines to offer $130,000+ in guaranteed tournaments each week. Not to mention, 888 uses its same proprietary Dragonfish platform in New Jersey that it does across the Atlantic.

Due to a lack of brand recognition in the US, 888 Poker struggled when it first launched in the New Jersey market in late 2013. That all changed when it entered into a compact with sister site WSOP NJ (which also uses 888’s platform) in January 2015. In the months that followed, the new network grabbed the market’s cash-game-traffic lead.

Even the entry of PokerStars in March 2016 couldn’t grind the WSOP/888 train to a halt, as the network still manages to capture significant cash game market share — sometimes more than PokerStars.

How much traffic? Cash-game volume averages around 500 players with a 24h peak of around 850. It ticks up when WSOP NJ beefs up its promotional schedule ahead of the live series in Las Vegas.

WSOP/888 also boasts a fair amount of tournaments, highlighted by its $100,000+ Weekend Warriors schedule, in addition to many nightlymajors. Most of the major tournaments are either re-entries or feature rebuys and add-ons, but 888 does offer several exclusivefreezeouts at the smaller stakes.

Sign up at 888 Poker and get $20 free no deposit poker bonus; no 888 Poker promotional code is required.

888 online poker bonuses

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Free $20

New players who successfully register an account on 888 Poker NJ will receive the following:

• A credit of $10 in free play for select casino games on 888 Casino. 888 will automatically credit your account.
• A credit of $4 worth in bonus money that shall appear in your bankroll. You can use it at 888 Poker and 888 Casino.
• Six tournament tickets, with a value of $1 each, for use as entry tickets to poker tournaments only at 888 Poker.

The no deposit free poker bonus expires in seven days and is subject to a 30x wagering requirement. You can only get one bonus (e.g., you don’t get one at 888 Casino and then another at 888 Poker).

What’s nice about this offer, is that there are no playing requirements associated with the cash portion of the bonus. Also, you will be able to withdraw any winnings from the tournament tickets immediately.

That said, you must use your tickets quickly, as they expire within 14 days.

100% match up to $1,500 deposit bonus

When you sign up, you are also eligible for a hefty welcome deposit bonus. You will receive a 100% match bonus, up to $1500, on your first deposit.

The bonus clears at a rate of $10 per 100 points earned. All players earn twopoints per $1 paid in rake and tournament entry fees — that works out to 20% rakeback — on top of what they receive from the site’s loyalty program.

You can cash out any cleared $10 increment of your bonus immediately, and any winnings from the bonus funds can also be cashed out.

Reload bonuses

888 Poker NJ does not offer many reload bonuses — although its partner WSOP NJ does.

888 Poker NJ online casino review

888poker NJ Quick Review

• Traffic - 85

• Depth of Game Selection - 86

• Software - 88

• Customer Support - 85

• Promotional Value - 94

Summary

Traffic on 888poker NJ gets a huge boost from a liquidity sharing pact with WSOP.com. Now, players have a wide array of cash games, tournaments, and freerolls to choose from. The interface is a little antiquated, and we do wish there were more cash game formats, but these are minor quibbles. The high monetary cap of 888's first deposit bonus is just icing on the cake.

Software and mobile app

888 offers Windows and Mac platforms to New Jersey customers. There are also a fully downloadable poker apps for Android and iPhone or iPad.

Poker games available at 888 Poker NJ

Cash games

888 Poker NJ offers:

• No Limit Texas Hold ’em
• Pot Limit Omaha

All Omaha games are 6-max. Hold ’em games are either 6-max or fullring, although the full-ring games only run at lower stakes.

Available stakes range from 1-2 cents through $10-$20. The most popular stake appears to be 25-50 cents, with stakes near that blind level nearly as popular.

There are lobbies for other cash-game formats, but they do not appear operational at this time. We doubt that this will change as the NJ market isn’t big enough to support too many alternative formats.

Sit ‘n Gos

Sit ‘n Gos (SNG) are only available in No Limit Texas Hold ’em and Pot Limit Omaha. Six-max, full ring and heads-up games are available. Speeds include turbo, superturbo and standard.

Table stakes run the gamut from 11 cents to $250, although the games that run are typically on the lower end of that range.

SNG players are best off playing during the prime-time hours of 7 p.m.-1 a.m. local time, as that’s when the most games are running. But in reality, they might be best off taking their action to WSOP NJ, as not only does that site share partial SNG liquidity with 888, it also offers a monthly SNG leaderboard promotion.

The platform also offers four-handed BLAST tournaments. These are Super-turbo Texas Hold’em Sit and Go events.

The prize pool for each BLAST Sit & Go is determined based on a draw at the beginning of each tournament. Prize amounts can vary from two to 10,000 times the buy-in, adding a bit of fun to the mix.

BLAST events begin like a traditional tournament, but there’s a big twist. Once the tournament starts, the BLAST timer starts a countdown. When time runs out, all players are all in each hand until there’s a winner.

Multi-table tournaments

Unlike most sites, 888poker NJ offers near round the clock tournament action. The only times multi-table tournaments (MTT) do not run are after 1 a.m. and before 4 a.m. Granted, the tournaments that run during off-peak hours don’t exactly offer huge prizepools, but at least they’re guarantees.

During prime time, 888 supports a solid major schedule. On weekdays, nightly majors feature buy-ins ranging from $10 to $100 and guarantees that run up as high as $10,000. Nightly majors start at 7 p.m., with the last one kicking off at midnight.

The weekend schedule is even moreimpressive, featuring no less than 10 Warrior-branded tournaments, combined, guarantee up to $140,000. Buy-ins for these events tend toward the larger side, ranging from $50 to $500. All of these tournaments permit re-entries.

Any freerolls you’ll find on 888poker will likely be in Texas Hold’em, but that’s pretty standard across most online poker sites. For more, check our dedicated page here:

Play Online Poker Games with Friends

If you prefer playing online poker with friends only you can set up private cash games and tournaments on 888poker in the Play with Friends tab. It’s a very simple process and no setting up of a private club or anything is required.

Banking

Deposits

You may deposit cash at the Bally’s Casino cage. Visa and Mastercard are also accepted. Although credit card transactions incur a cash-advance fee and Visa has a low rate of acceptance at all New Jersey online poker sites and casinos.

That said, those who have trouble with credit or debit cards may try to use them to deposit at Neteller. Other, more recommended methods of making a deposit include:

• Bank transfer (ACH): High approval rating and immediate turnaround.
• Online banking transfers: You must have the bill pay feature on your bank account.
• PayPal: The popular third-party processor now accepts payments on NJ-regulated online gambling sites.
• PayNearMe: You can pay cash at eligible 7-Eleven for use on 888 Poker NJ, which is good if you don’t have a bank account.

Cash Outs

As an 888 player, you may withdraw cash at the Bally’s Casino cage in Atlantic City. 888 will also send an electroniccheck to a player’s bank account or mail a check. Checks by mail do take longer than other methods, which is roughly seven to 10 business days.

Neteller provides a debit card, which you can use at ATMs or retailers that accept Discover. Finally, if you use PayPal for your poker deposits, you can withdraw via the same method.

You may be asked to provide proof of your banking account before being allowed to withdraw. This is a safeguard designed to protect the site and you from fraud.

Typically, the verification process will task you with uploading a scan of their valid ID (such as a driver’s license), a bankingstatement or utilitybill to the site.

Player rewards

888 offers a generous VIP program. All VIP payments are paid in straight cash, though they may be claimed in the 888 Poker platform. The rates are determined by the amount of rake paid in a month.

As an 888 player, you carry over this status into the next month:

• Blue: 0/5% rakeback
• Iron: 50/8% rakeback
• Bronze: 200/10% rakeback
• Silver: 3,000/15% rakeback
• Gold: 6,000/20% rakeback
• Platinum: 20,000/35% rakeback

Note: You won’t have to play that much to achieve at least 10% rakeback, although getting to the higher tiers may prove a challenge.

How to earn status points on 888 Poker NJ

You earn points at a clip of two points per $1 paid in rake and tournament entry fees, meaning that to achieve Silver status, you will need to generate $1,500 for the site.

As a platinum player, you will need to rake $10,000 — a challenge indeed, but that benchmark is still lower than what other sites require.

Customer service

888 Poker offers all the standard support options, including a quite extensive FAQ section that’s on its website. Players with more involved problems may want to go one of these alternative routes:

• Email: An agent will typically respond within 24-48 hours.
• Phone: Best bet for both service and availability (24/7).
• Livechat: Speedy response times but availability is limited (3-11 p.m. daily).

Security and fairness

New Jersey poker rooms are subject to regular and rigid oversight from the state’s gaming regulatory body, the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement. All legal NJ sites, 888 Poker included, must institute safeguards designed to verify and protect player identities and funds.

Now, because of that, the registration process is typically more intense than it is on an offshore site. But those extra few steps go a long way toward ensuring the site never dupes its players.

And, in the rare instance that they do feel they were treated unfairly, they can always bring it up with NJ regulators directly.

888 Poker NJ FAQ

Who should play on 888 Poker?

888 is beginner-friendly, offering a wide variety of low-stakes cash games. Fields tend toward the softer side relative to other NJ online poker sites.

There are myriad low-stakes tournaments to choose from as well, some of which are freezeouts. This stands in some contrast to sister site WSOP, where the majority of guaranteed tournaments are either re-entries or adhere to the rebuy and add-on format.

Part-time grinders, who only have time to play at night and on weekends, will have a good selection of higher-profile tournaments to choose from, with nightly majors featuring guarantees ranging from $750 to $10,000, and weekend events guaranteeing as much as $50,000.

For pros, 888’s loyalty program may prove a selling point, but they may get somewhat frustrated by the inconsistency in which mid- to high-stakes cash games run.

SNG players, too, might find that their time is best spent elsewhere, as not many games of this format run during the day, and 888 does not support a monthly SNG leaderboard.

How does 888poker NJ stand out from the competition?

If it didn’t share liquidity with WSOP NJ, 888 wouldn’t have all that much to offer NJ players, as standalone site traffic is on the low side. Fortunately, the reality of the situation is muchrosier.

Traffic on 888 is now solid enough to support a wide variety of cash games and high-profile tournaments, with guarantees running as high as $50,000 for its biggest Sunday major (Ultimate Warrior).

In addition, 888 outperforms its sister site WSOP NJ in a few key areas.

Is it worth joining 888 Poker’s loyalty program?

At 888 Poker, you begin earning rakeback from the moment you play your first real-money cash game hand. You only have to rake $100 a month to receive 10% rakeback as cash.

Earning the site’s top monthly tier (Platinum) will take some effort, but if you are a serious player, the 35% rakeback you will receive will be well worth the trip.

888 Poker Free Download

How does the deposit bonus at 888 rank?

Compared to other NJ online poker sites the monetary cap of 888’s first-time deposit bonus and second deposit bonus is higher. We do wish it cleared at a faster rate, but there’s no denying the overall value of this promotion.

Three areas where 888 Poker could do better

• Promotions: Or should we say the lack thereof.
  The fact is that after an aggressive launch, 888 has pareddown its promotional schedule considerably. Currently, there isn’t much to discuss. And when 888 does run a promotion, it runs one at a time.
  With that, its one-off events do tend to be quitelucrative, especially for those looking to build a modest bankroll.
• Diversity: 888’s cash-game lobby leans toward lower-stakes games. $1/$2 and higher games run occasionally, but they’re not as prevalent as on other sites. Not to mention, the overwhelming majority of hands are decided over No Limit Hold ’em. Pot Limit Omaha games do run but finding one can be a crapshoot.
  888 does feature Stud, Omaha Hi/Lo, and Fixed Limit lobbies, but not only are they vacant, but they don’t even appear to be operational.
• Events: Of all NJ online poker sites, 888 is the only one that doesn’t run a tournament series. This is somewhat frustrating, as PokerStars tends to run a series at least once a quarter and even WSOP NJ runs a variety of low- to -mid-sized tournament events.