Michigan Gaming Control Board issues 33 cease-and-desist letters to illegal online operators

Operators are illegally offering online casino games, sweepstakes-style games, and sports betting to Michigan residents

The Michigan Gaming Control Board has issued cease-and-desist letters to 33 offshore gambling operators found to be illegally offering online casino games, sweepstakes-style games, and sports betting to Michigan residents.

The agency is also warning of a risk that often gets overlooked: players who have signed up for Michigan’s self-exclusion programs are not protected on unlicensed sites.

The letters were sent to the operators of Azartzona Casino, Basepoker, BingoMania, BitofGold, Cryptoplay, Del Oro Casino, Detective Slots, Donbet, Exclusive Casino, Genie Jackpot, Guangzhou Snail Interactive Technology Co., Ltd., Immersion Casino Online, iWild Casino, JacksPay, Jurassic Slots, L0tt0, Lucky Charm Sweep, Lucky Rebel, Magicianbet, mBit Casino, Odds Maker, Raging Bull Slots, Regal Casino and Sportsbook (also known as Wager Street), Ronin Slots, Runewager, Slot Paradise, Sloto Tribe, Sloto’Cash Online Casino, Spin Dinero, SpinsTopia, Stardust, SunnySpins Casino, and The Online Casino. MGCB investigations determined each was offering casino-style games, sweepstakes-style games, or sports betting to Michigan residents without a state license.

Licensed Michigan operators are required to honour the Internet Gaming and Sports Betting Responsible Gaming Database, which lets people voluntarily ban themselves from online gambling. Offshore operators have no such obligation. A person who has chosen to step away from gambling can still open an account, deposit money, and place bets on an unlicensed site, often without realising the site operates outside Michigan law.

“Choosing to self-exclude is one of the hardest and most courageous decisions a person can make, and in Michigan’s legal market, that choice is respected,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams. “Offshore sites don’t respect it. They will take a deposit from someone who has asked for help, and the MGCB has no way to help that person get it back. These 33 letters put operators on notice that our residents are not an untapped market, and that anyone who thinks they can ignore our protections will hear from us.”

National research suggests offshore gambling is widespread. According to an August 2025 analysis by the American Gaming Association (AGA), Americans wager $673.6bn each year with illegal and unregulated gambling operators, including offshore sites, and the illegal market has grown 22 per cent since the AGA’s previous report in 2022, driven in part by a sharp rise in illegal online casino play.

Online casino players are increasingly crossing into the illegal market. According to the same AGA study, the share of online casino players who use only legal sites dropped from 52 per cent in 2022 to 24 per cent, while nearly half now play on both legal and illegal sites, almost three times the earlier rate. The AGA also found that Americans placed an estimated $84bn in bets with illegal bookies and offshore sportsbooks in the year covered by the study, and one in ten sports bettors wager exclusively through illegal sources.

Many sports bettors may not know they are betting illegally. According to earlier AGA consumer research, 70 per cent of sports bettors who placed most of their wagers with illegal operators believed they were betting only with legal sportsbooks, or splitting their bets evenly between legal and illegal ones.