{"id":307720,"date":"2024-01-23T12:55:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=307720"},"modified":"2024-01-23T13:01:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T19:01:46","slug":"michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Regulators Order Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.<\/p>\n

\"Michigan
The Michigan Gaming Control Board has ordered Stake.us and two other unlicensed gaming websites to immediately cease operations. Gaming regulators determined that the three websites were operating in Michigan unlawfully. (Image: Casino.org<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

State gaming regulators say PredictionStrike Inc., based in Bay Shore, NY, Sweepstakes Limited, based in Limassol, Cyprus, and VGW LuckyLand, Inc., based in San Francisco were each running illegal gaming enterprises in Michigan. The MGCB has ordered each company to immediately stop allowing people inside Michigan to access the unlicensed gaming websites.<\/p>\n

\n

Gambling regulations are in place for a reason, and illegal gambling operations are not welcome in Michigan,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams. “We do not want businesses who skirt the law having access to Michigan citizens and leaving them vulnerable because they are playing on unregulated sites that leave them with no recourse, and that siphon funds away from communities because they are not paying taxes like a regulated, legal gambling establishment would.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Michigan is one of six states that allows online casinos, but platforms must undergo extensive suitability reviews by the MGCB before receiving an iGaming license and being deemed an approved online gaming platform. iGaming firms are required to partner with one of the three commercial casinos in Detroit<\/a> or with a tribe holding a Class III gaming compact with the state.<\/p>\n

FanDuel, for instance, runs online slots and table games through its partnership with Detroit’s MotorCity Casino. DraftKings runs iGaming through its partnership with the Bay Mills Indian Community, which owns and operates its namesake Bay Mills Resort & Casino and Kings Club Casino in Chippewa County.<\/p>\n

Illegal Gaming Websites<\/b><\/h2>\n

Michigan gaming regulators<\/a> were recently tipped off about the unlicensed websites doing business unlawfully.<\/p>\n

An MGCB investigation determined that PredictionStrike offered internet casino gambling and sports betting without holding applicable licenses. The state agency found VGW to be operating illegal internet gambling games.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The board concluded that Sweepstakes Limited operated as Stake.us<\/a> and ran unlicensed online lottery and raffle games. Stake bills itself as a social casino<\/a>, a claim disputed by the MGCB. Stake pays Canadian rapper Drake to market its online gaming business.<\/p>\n

\n

Michigan legalized online casino gaming for its commercial and tribal casinos in 2019. The Lawful Internet Gaming Act says only casinos “that are currently licensed under the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act and federally authorized tribal casinos within Michigan” can apply for internet gaming and sports betting licenses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Michigan provides prosecutors with considerable penalties to levy against those who violate the state’s gaming laws. A person found guilty of operating an unlicensed gambling operation faces felony charges and penalties including up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $100K.<\/p>\n

Unlawful iGaming Remains Problem<\/b><\/h2>\n

The American Gaming Association says more states should legalize online gaming to protect consumers who want to play from home and to rid bad actors and offshore gaming websites that continue to target US players. The casino lobby has called on the US Justice Department to better enforce the country’s laws<\/a> that prohibit overseas companies from allowing players in the US to gamble on their websites.<\/p>\n

“These bad actors prey on vulnerable customers, offer no consumer protections, do not ensure integrity or fair play, and generate no economic benefit for states or tribal nations,” said AGA CEO Bill Miller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michigan has ordered three online gaming websites to cease operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":307723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88702,13592],"tags":[81871,81931,81863,87539,81872,13720],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMichigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T18:55:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T19:01:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-23T18:55:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-23T19:01:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"The Michigan Gaming Control Board has ordered Stake.us and two other unlicensed gaming websites to immediately cease operations. Gaming regulators determined that the three websites were operating in Michigan unlawfully. (Image: Casino.org)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"illegal gambling\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/illegal-gambling\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Michigan Regulators Order Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations","description":"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations","og_description":"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-01-23T18:55:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-23T19:01:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/","name":"Michigan Orders Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-23T18:55:27+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-23T19:01:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has sent cease-and-desist letters to three online gaming websites operating in the state unlawfully.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2024-01-23-at-1.41.24-PM.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"The Michigan Gaming Control Board has ordered Stake.us and two other unlicensed gaming websites to immediately cease operations. Gaming regulators determined that the three websites were operating in Michigan unlawfully. (Image: Casino.org)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/michigan-orders-unlicensed-igaming-sites-cease\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"illegal gambling","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/illegal-gambling\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Michigan Regulators Order Unlicensed iGaming Sites to Terminate Operations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307720"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307732,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307720\/revisions\/307732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}