Breaking: Michigan Players Get a Second Online Poker Room as BetMGM MI Poker Launches

Barely one month after the first regulated online poker room in Michigan went live, a second offer has debuted: BetMGM Michigan has launched online poker.

It has been expected for weeks and delayed multiple times. Just earlier today, we were informed through official channels that a further delay would push it back to later this week. But it appears that all the wrinkles have been ironed out, because real money poker games are live as of now on BetMGM Michigan.

It was only on January 29 that the first online poker room in Michigan, PokerStars MI, came to market. The operator has enjoyed a huge first few weeks, but its de facto monopoly is already coming to an end.

Running on partypoker software, the online poker room of BetMGM will go head-to-head with the online poker giant, offering real money cash games and tournaments and enticing players with some massive welcome bonuses and first-month promotions.

Key Facts about BetMGM MI Poker Launch

• Second regulated online poker room in the state
• Is a segregated from the existing online poker network in New Jersey for now
• $25 in free cash and tournament tickets plus $600 deposit match bonus for all new accounts signing up with no bonus code required, just following our link.
• Big tournaments already scheduled
• Huge $50,000 freeroll tournament for all new players that sign up now set for early April
• Another deposit bonus lined up next month, plus Fast Cash promotion.
• Already hints of a big tournament series coming soon!

Michigan has been a big market launch for BetMGM so far. Its MI Casino and sportsbook went live back in January, and it immediately soared to the top of the rankings: By the end of the first month of operation, the BetMGM USA brand booked the biggest revenues of all regulated gaming operators.

The casino site raked in more than $11 million in revenue, while the sportsbook pulled in more than $5 million.

An online poker launch to complement sports and casino was therefore expected, and indeed pokerfuse exclusively revealed last month that it was readying a launch. It was initially anticipated for the end of February; BetMGM missed that tentative date, but only by a few weeks.

Huge New Welcome Bonuses To Entice Players

To celebrate the arrival of newest room on the Michigan online poker scene, BetMGM Michigan Poker is offering a full slate of welcome bonuses and launch promotions.

First, all players on creating an account get a $25 welcome bonus. Once you have validated your account, this is immediately credited—no deposit is required, and no bonus code is needed.

The bonus comes in the form of $10 worth of cash game play plus $15 in tournament dollars.

Then, there is BetMGM’s classic 100% first deposit bonus up to $600. Bonus cash is released in 10% increments of the player’s initial deposit, and players release their bonus cash by earning iRPs by playing. The earn rate is 12 iRPs for each bonus dollar.

Once you have worked your way through that, there’s going to be an additional $50 deposit bonus by depositing with code MIPOKERDEP50GET50. This promotion is set to start April 11 and run through to April 17, so you’ll have time to work through the Welcome Bonus then get this one queued up next.

Players using the code will get $50 in bonus cash. Bonus dollars are released in increments of $10, and the earn rate is the same for the Welcome Bonus (12x) so you need to generate 120 iRPs to unlock each $10 portion.

Incredibly, that’s not all. BetMGM has already queued up another bonus for later in the month. Players can also earn $50 Fast Cash by opting in during the qualifying period of March 22 to March 28. The bonus is released in $5 increments for every 60 iRPs earned.

Finally, the operator has launched a year-long bonus where big grinders can get a pretty staggering $6,500 in bonus cash. The more iRPs you accumulate, the bigger your bonus. Get anywhere from $1 through to $6500 in cash.

Welcome Freeroll Open to All New Players

To welcome players to the newest poker option in Michigan, there is also an Invitational Freeroll at the end of March with $50,000 in prizes.

The freeroll is for existing casino and sports betting clients of BetMGM products, but players still have a chance to get in the game. Any player who earns at least one iRP playing casino games or placing sports bets before March 21 will be awarded a freeroll ticket.

Prizes include tickets to the $109 BetMGM Grand Online Series Main Event for the top 250 finishers in the freeroll, as well as tournament dollars for most of the top 1,000 players. Players who finish fifth or better will get $100 to $500 in tournament dollars on top of the $109 ticket, while players who finish between 251 and 1,000 will get tournament dollars ranging from $50 down to $10.

There are no other details around the BetMGM Grand Online Series, it looks like this will be the operator’s first big tournament series which could go live in the first days of April.

Tournament dollars can be used to enter any real money poker tournament or sit and go on BetMGM Michigan Poker.

Get Into the Game

Existing clients of BetMGM Michigan Casino are already set to jump onto the poker tables.

Any player with an existing BetMGM account will also be able to play on the new poker client with no new sign up required. Players can deposit and withdraw poker bankrolls using the same methods they already use for other BetMGM gaming activities, and move money easily between the different products.

As in New Jersey, BetMGM Michigan Poker players are able to play a variety of games in a variety of ways. Play in the comfort of your home with access from your desktop, or play on the go with secure mobile access from your smartphone or tablet.

For now, BetMGM Poker MI will be limited to Michigan residents, and will use geo-location tools to ensure all players are physically located in the state.

Big Launch for Online Poker in Michigan

Since PokerStars MI debuted, online poker players have swamped the tables. Cash game traffic exploded, and by the end of its first week it was the largest regulated online poker room in the United States, a position that it holds today.

One of the first things PokerStars MI did was put on a big tournament series, the Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP). The response was overwhelming.

The first weekend of play crushed the guarantees. The operator responded by doubling guarantees for the following weekend of the series.

Once again, the new guarantees were left in the dust as players crowded onto the tables to try their hand at the newly regulated online poker games. The huge success of MICOOP made it clear that Michigan residents want to play online poker.

New Player at the Michigan Table

This launch makes Michigan the second state in the United States to have multiple online poker options.

Prior to the BetMGM Michigan Poker launch, New Jersey was the only state in the union with multiple options for poker players. In addition to PokerStars NJ, the New Jersey market is also home to two skins on the 888poker Network, as well as three skins on the partypoker US Network, run by Roar Digital and Entain.

New Jersey Poker Operators and Skins

• PokerStars NJ
• 888poker Network
  • WSOP NJ
  • 888 NJ
• Roar Digital
  • partypoker NJ
  • Borgata Poker
  • BetMGM Poker

Roar Digital brands, including BetMGM, have been waiting for the right time to jump into the Michigan poker scene. With the PokerStars games off to a roaring start, the right time to give Michigan players a new poker option is now.

Initially, Roar Digital is operating in Michigan under the BetMGM Michigan Poker brand. It Borgata Poker MI and partypoker MI may come as well. If they do, the situation will be like in New Jersey—where players pools are shared across their skins.

However, for now Michigan players will not be able to play on the same tables as those in New Jersey—the players pools will remain segregated. However, hopefully this will change later this year.