The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has announced that it sent cease-and-desist letters to 33 sites it considers to be operating illegally in the state. This includes 3 sweepstakes-related brands: BitofGold, Lucky Charm Sweep, and Runewager.
Most of the other casinos targeted are offshore, real-money sites, and this latest wave of notices follows on from the 45 letters sent out in April (although no obvious sweeps casinos were in that April list).
SweepsKings actually considers BitofGold and Lucky Charm Sweep to be illegitimate sweepstakes-adjacent sites, operating as portals to shady sweeps or credit-loading platforms like Orion Stars, Fire Kirin, and Milky Way.
On the other hand, Runewager is a site we’ve reviewed and found to be relatively legitimate, but it’s still not a place we’d recommend players sign up at. That being said, Runewager lists Michigan as a restricted territory in its own T&Cs, so it’s unclear whether it was accepting players from the state in the first place.
Most Sweepstakes Casinos Already Left Michigan
Michigan is one of a handful of US states that permit real-money iGaming, which is a big factor in why it’s so strict when it comes to rooting out “illegal” sweepstakes casinos.
The sweeps crackdown began in 2022 when MI’s Attorney General took action against Golden Hearts Games, and that case eventually resulted in an agreement in September 2023 to halt operations in the state completely.
Then the pressure on other MI sweeps casinos continued to build. In October 2023, VGW announced that Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots would leave Michigan, while Stake.us also stopped accepting Michigan players.
The MGCB later confirmed that it had been involved in sending cease-and-desist letters to both of these operators, and by early 2024, almost all other sweeps brands saw that the writing was on the wall and left.
So the MGCB’s latest wave of C&Ds therefore appears to be attempting to clean up any straggler sweepstakes brands it comes across.
What About Alternative Gaming Sites in Michigan?
Within the recent press release, the Board reminded players that they could check if an online casino was authorized to operate in the state via their page titled Authorized Online Gaming and Sports Betting Platform Providers in Michigan.
Aside from regulated, real-money casinos on that list, we do know of some pure social casinos (Hard Rock), card battle sites (Card Crush, ZumbaCards), and rip-and-ship platforms (Rich Rips, MyPrize Packs) operating in MI under alternative models designed to fit even within strict regulatory environments.
As of yet, it appears none of these sites have been targeted by the MGCB.
Author: Joseph Allen
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