The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has issued cease-and-desist letters to 33 offshore gambling operators found to be illegally offering online-casino and sweepstakes-style games and sports betting in the state.
In a statement issued Thursday, the MGCB also warned of the risk to players on the state’s self-exclusion programs who 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, and Magicianbet.
Other offshore operators that received the letters were 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.
The agency’s investigations determined each was offering casino-style and sweepstakes-style games or sports betting to Michigan residents without a state license.
Licensed Michigan operators are required to honor 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 realizing the site operates outside Michigan law, according to the MGCB.
“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”
Williams made it clear that 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, the MGCB said.
According to an August 2025 analysis by the American Gaming Association (AGA), Americans wager $673.6 billion each year with illegal and unregulated gambling operators, including offshore sites, and the illegal market has grown 22% 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, with the share of players who use only legal sites having dropped from 52% in 2022 to 24%, while nearly half now play on both legal and illegal sites, almost three times the earlier rate, the same study found.
The AGA also found that Americans placed an estimated $84 billion in bets with illegal bookies and offshore sportsbooks in the year covered by the study, and one in 10 sports bettors wager exclusively through illegal sources.
Many sports bettors may not know they are betting illegally. According to earlier AGA consumer research, 70% 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.
