Michigan blackjack players can visit 23 tribal casinos outside of Detroit and three commercial casinos in the city. No matter where you’re located in the state, including the upper peninsula, you’re within driving distance to a casino with a blackjack table.
Michigan online gambling launched on January 22, 2021! There are now currently over 10 mobile casino apps that offer blackjack and other casino games.
Below, we’ll go over everything else you need to know about Michigan blackjack.
How To Play Real Money Blackjack Online In Michigan
Michigan currently offers legally licensed online casinos. All 26 brick-and-mortar locations are eligible and many are offering Michigan online casino apps.
Michigan online casinos offer a variety of online blackjack games. It’s an essential component of a real-money online casino. It is also probable that they will offer live dealer blackjack.
The top online casino brands including Golden Nugget, DraftKings Casino, BetMGM, and FanDuel are available in the Michigan market.
Sweepstakes Online Casinos In Michigan
While you can’t play at real-money online casinos yet in Michigan, you can win cash prizes at sweepstakes casinos by playing blackjack.
To win cash prizes at a sweepstakes site, you cash in Sweeps Coins (SC) that you earn simply by logging in, purchasing Gold Coins, and few other methods. You then use those Sweeps Coins to play the different casino games, including blackjack.
Once you have enough Sweeps Coins to redeem, you can do so for a cash prize.
Online Sweepstakes Casinos In Michigan
The most popular sweepstakes casino is Chumba Casino, and they offer a solid blackjack variation with favorable rules to the player. The same company that owns Chumba also runs Global Poker, a sweepstakes poker site that also has two additional versions of blackjack.
That’s three different versions of sweepstakes blackjack where you can win cash prizes in Michigan, and they’re all completely legal.
| Type of Blackjack | Sweepstakes Site | SC Min/Max | Key Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chumba Blackjack | Chumba Casino | SC 1.00 /SC 500 | Blackjack pays 3 to 2; Dealer stands soft 17; Only double down 9, 10, 11; Dealer does not peek for blackjack |
| Classic Blackjack | Global Poker | SC 0.5 /SC 500 | Blackjack pays 3 to 2; Dealer hits soft 17; Dealer does not peek for blackjack; Double down any two-card hand |
| Premium Blackjack | Global Poker | SC 25 /SC 1,000 | Blackjack pays 3 to 2; Dealer stands soft 17; Dealer peeks for blackjack; Double down any two-card hand |
How Does Sweepstakes Blackjack Work?
To join and win cash prizes at Chumba Casino or Global Poker, you can instantly create an account through email, Google, or Facebook. You’ll receive free SC just for registering, and you can purchase Gold Coins to receive SC as a bonus.
For example, if you buy 5 million Gold Coins from Chumba, you’ll receive SC 20.50 as a bonus.
But there’s a decent chance that you never have to buy Gold Coins to receive Sweeps Coins. Instead, you can log in every day at Chumba to receive SC 1.000 for free. You can also physically mail in a request to either site for free sweeps coins, and you can participate in their social media contests.
Once you receive some SC, you need to play through it at least once before you can withdraw for a cash prize. If you receive SC 20.50, you need to use SC 20.50 at the sweepstakes blackjack (or any of their games). Whatever left over is redeemable SC.
At both Chumba and Global Poker, you can need at least SC 10 to redeem for a gift card. For a cash prize, the minimum is SC 50 at Global Poker and SC 100 at Chumba.
Start Playing Blackjack Online At Chumba Casino Here.
Michigan Casinos With Blackjack
Michigan has 23 tribal casinos, and 11 are located in the Upper Peninsula, meaning both parts of the state have an even distribution.
However, the Lower Peninsula has a few extra casinos because Detroit is home to the only three commercial (non-tribal) locations in the state.
Every one of these 26 casinos offers numerous blackjack tables. Generally speaking, the bigger the casino, the more tables and the larger the variety of rules.
Best Blackjack Casinos In Michigan
Soaring Eagle Casino Resort
At Soaring Eagle in Mount Pleasant, they offer over 60 table games. On top of the rare single-zero roulette, most of the options are blackjack.
The rules at Soaring Eagle in terms of table minimum depend on the time of day and day of the week. Peak hours will mean minimums below $15 are rare, but you may be able to find some $10 minimums on weekdays and before the sun sets.
The key blackjack rules include late surrender, split up to three times, and play up to three hands at once.
Four Winds Casino
Four Winds in New Buffalo not only has 48 table games, blackjack included, but they also have 24 terminals with digital blackjack.
At the terminals, you can likely find much lower table minimums than you can at the physical tables.
At the physical tables, you can find both 3 to 2 six-deck blackjack as well as 6 to 5 single-deck blackjack. This is also a hotspot if you like the side bets, such as Lucky Lucky, where you can wager on specific card combinations.
FireKeepers Casino
Of the top three Michigan casinos for playing blackjack, FireKeepers of Battle Creek is the largest, boasting over 70 table games.
FireKeepers also has the largest variety of table minimums and rules. You should be able to find $5 tables no matter when you visit, but blackjack will pay out 6 to 5. You’ll also be able to find several 3 to 2 tables with $10 to $25 minimums.
Michigan Blackjack Rules
It’s always a good idea to learn how to play blackjack in the state in which you are playing. Some states have specific rules. The blackjack rules in Michigan are not standardized like they are in other jurisdictions. But they do follow a universal best practice: the higher the table minimum, the better the odds.
Interestingly, single-deck blackjack variations, like the one at Four Winds, provide the best odds of consistent wins. However, the rule that getting a blackjack (two-card hand value of 21) pays out 6 to 5.
Generally, the rules are:
- Table minimum is $10 – $20
- Blackjack pays 3:2
- Dealer hits on soft 17
- Double on any card
- One card dealt on split aces
Types Of Blackjack Games In Michigan
| Types of Blackjack | Description | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic 3:2 | Blackjack pays out 3 to 2 (a $20 bet would win $30) | Most straightforward form of blackjack; reasonable table minimums | No special rules that benefit the player |
| Classic 6:5 | Blackjack pays out 6 to 5 (a $20 bet would win $24) | Low table minimums | Worst blackjack odds at the casino |
| High-Roller | High pay minimums. Dealer stays on soft 17 | Best odds/lowest house edge at the casino | High table minimums |
| Single-Deck | One deck is used instead of 6 | Extremely good odds if blackjack pays 3:2 | High table minimum; usually pays 6:5 in Michigan |
| Progressive | Standard blackjack with a side bet that means you qualify for a progressive jackpot and other payouts at random | Opportunities to win outside of standard blackjack gameplay | Winning progressive jackpot is extremely unlikely |
| 21+3 | Standard blackjack with a side bet that pays out based on the dealer and player cards creating poker hands (flush, three of a kind, etc.) | Opportunities to win outside of standard blackjack gameplay | Side bet has a significantly higher house edge than standard blackjack gameplay |
| Multi-Hand | Play multiple hands simultaneously against a single dealer hand | Each hand is subject to the table minimum individually | It’s easy to quickly bet beyond budget |
History Of Blackjack In Michigan
The first ever tribal casino to open in the United States was Kings Club Casino in 1984. Located in Bay Mills Township and now called Bay Mills Resort & Casinos, you can still visit this historic venue – and play blackjack, where the dealer must stand on all 17, a great rule for the player.
In November of 1996, the Michigan voters approved commercial casinos opening in Detroit. The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) was formed, and three casinos are now available to folks in and around Detroit, the state’s most populous city.
Now, recent legislation legalized sports betting as well as online gambling in every form. You can bet on sports in retail sportsbooks as of March 2020. Online casinos as well as multi-state poker are expected to launch in 2021.
Playing Blackjack In Michigan FAQ
21. The legal age to play blackjack at a casino is 21 years old and up. This applies to both in-person and online casinos. This age requirement also applies to both commercial and tribal locations.
However, people 18 and up can play the Michigan Lottery, including the online portal.
All the sweepstakes casinos that offer blackjack also accept players 18 and up (unless you live in the State of Washington).
Not yet. Playing blackjack online in Michigan will not be completely safe until the MGCB sets rules and distributes operation licenses.
Until then, all online casinos that offer their services to those located in the State of Michigan are breaking state and federal law.
These illegal offline sites may have solid reputations among players and experts around the internet, but it’s important to emphasize that they don’t have much legal obligation to pay out.
Your only real recourse if they rip you off is posting a bad review. This makes them, generally speaking, an unsafe place to play blackjack.
The only way to play real-money online blackjack before legally-licensed online casinos launch in Michigan is by playing at illegal sites.
However, you can win real cash prizes at sweepstakes casinos. Both Chumba Casino and Global Poker offer high-quality online blackjack that you can play with Sweeps Coins. Win enough Sweeps Coins, and you can redeem them for gift cards as well as cash.
Yes. You can play blackjack online for free in Michigan from a countless number of sites.
Playing free online blackjack with demo credits is great practice for the real thing. You don’t even need to create an account to play, you simply press play.
Pro-Tip: If you’re new to the game, have a blackjack strategy chart handy when you practice. It won’t be long before choosing the best action (hit, stay, double, split, or surrender) will become second nature.
26. All 23 tribal casinos as well as the three commercial casinos in Detroit all offer blackjack tables. Each one will feature a few unique variations, but you’ll see a generally consistent selection at each property. But the larger the casino, the more tables, and the more variations of blackjack you’ll likely find.
During the day and weeknights. Generally, the casinos that lower their table minimum to entice people to play will do it during daytime hours and on weeknights. This is because more players populate the casino floor on weekend evenings, which are the casino’s peak hours.
If you’re going to the casino to be around a lot of people and the table minimum of $15 to $25 doesn’t bother you, then head to the casino on the weekends.
