Online Baccarat in Michigan 2024

Are Michigan Baccarat Games Legal?

No matter what kind of gambling component you’re planning to use, the legality of the activity matters the most. Even unknowingly participating in illegal gambling can get you into a lot of trouble.
Thankfully, online gambling has been legalized in Michigan in 2021. In case you’re not aware, the US federal government doesn’t regulate gambling directly. Rather, it’s the state government’s jurisdiction to decide how to do it
The Michigan government has decided to allow online gambling, both online casinos and online sportsbooks. So, as long as you stick to legal online gambling sites in Michigan, playing online baccarat in Michigan is completely legal.

Brick-and-Mortar Casinos that Offer Baccarat Games in Michigan

Before online gambling was a thing in the state, people would go for land-based gambling. Namely, in brick-and-mortar casinos. Michigan has a handful of these casinos that you can drive up to right now. Let’s take a quick look at your options.

Detroit Casinos to Play Baccarat in Michigan

When we say “live” baccarat, we don’t mean the live dealer version at online casinos. Rather, we’re referring to the physical game of baccarat. Detroit is the most high-voltage city in Michigan and that’s where all the gambling action happens. One of them is even a casino in Gun Lake, Michigan!

At the time of writing this live baccarat in Michigan guide, there are 3 casinos you can visit in Detroit. They are:

• MGM Grand Detroit
• Hollywood Casino Greektown
• MotorCity Casino Hotel

You’d be glad to know that all of these Michigan casino hotels have a good selection of live baccarat games. To be more precise, most of the games are either Mini baccarat or Midi baccarat. Unlike regular baccarat, the players don’t get to handle the cards.

More details regarding how to play live baccarat in Michigan coming soon in this guide. Just make sure you’re legal gambling age in Michigan before walking into one of these.

Tribal Casinos that Offer Live Baccarat

A “tribal” casino, by definition, is a gambling joint owned by Native Americans. They’re often located on tribal lands but it’s not always the case. Michigan has around 26 tribal casinos spread across 21 counties in the state.

Some of the popular franchises of these casinos are:

• Bay Mills Casino
• Four Winds Casino
• FireKeepers Casino
• Gun Lake Casino
• Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
• Kewadin Casino
• Lakeshore Casino and Resort
• Kings Club Casino

A lot of these brands have multiple locations, totaling up to 26. They might be categorized differently but in terms of the selection of live baccarat in Michigan, they’re no different from regular land-based casinos.

You can expect a healthy blend of Mini and Midi baccarat as well as regular baccarat at these casinos.

Are There Any Specific Rules for Baccarat in MI?

Casino table games usually follow the same set of rules all over the world. It’s simply because the card values remain the same, keeping the house edge and RTP the same across the board. So, if you’re looking into casinos in Michigan that have baccarat with different rules, you’re unlikely to find any.

When you play baccarat online in Michigan as well as the live version at land-based casinos, you’ll need to stick to the same rules.

A common area where you may notice some differences in the table limits for each game. It only makes sense that high rollers will not be satisfied with regular table limits. The regulatory body in the state, Michigan Gaming Control Board doesn’t impose any restrictions on casino operators regarding the limits.

Basic Rules of Baccarat Engagement

Baccarat is a fairly simple game when compared to some of the other more complex games like Blackjack or poker. Interestingly, the penetration of baccarat games even in Las Vegas is less than 20%. In contrast, more than 80% of the players in Macau spend some time on baccarat tables.

What we’re trying to establish is that there is nothing wrong if you’re not familiar with the rules of baccarat. Let us help you with the basics.

For starters, there are only 3 hands you can bet on. The “Player”, the “Banker”, and the “Tie”. In other table games, you would be the player and the dealer of the game would be the banker. But there is no such thing when you play baccarat at online casinos in Michigan.

Rather, you need to choose the hand by placing your chips in the appropriate spot. For the online variant, you should be able to control it on your screen, known as the console. The hand values after the dealing will decide which hand wins.

But before we go into the hands, you should be familiar with the card values. The term “Baccarat” is of Italian descent which means “zero”. This is significant in the sense that cards that tend to have the highest value in other games are all zero in this game. Namely, the King, Queen, Joker, and 10.

Before the dealer starts dealing, you need to decide which hand to bet on. You already know the 3 options you have. Most players stick with Player or Banker as Tie doesn’t have good odds. When you use our list of online casinos in Michigan, keep this in mind.

After your selection is complete, the dealer will start dealing cards for each hand. Each gets 2 cards, face up.

The maximum valid value in a hand is 9. So, anything over 10 gets the first digit dropped. A 10 would be 0, an 11 would be 1, a 12 would be 2, and so on. If there is a clear high-value hand after the initial dealing, that is the winner. If not, the dealer proceeds to draw a 3rd card. Keep this in mind as we have to come back to it later.

If either of the hands gets an 8 or a 9, it’s a natural win. The round ends right there and the winning player gets paid according to the odds.

Coming back to the 3rd card draw, this is where things start to get complicated. There are a lot of conditional rules that determine whether the player gets a 3rd card or not. Here are some of those rules for your better understanding.

• If there’s an ace, a 9, a 10, or a face card, the banker draws if it has a 0, 1, 2, or 3. The banker must stand if the hand value is between 4 and 7.
• If there’s an 8, the banker can draw if it has a 0, 1, or 2. It must stand between 3 and 7.
• If there’s a 6 or a 7, the banker gets to draw if there’s a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. For 7, the hand must stand.
• For a 4 or 5, the banker can draw when the hand includes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. It must stand for a 6 or 7.
• For a 2 or 3, the banker gets to draw when there is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4. For a 5, 6, or 7, a banker must stand.

As you can see, the rules can get pretty complicated as you keep playing. For this reason, Mini and Midi baccarat get most of the traction in Michigan. These 2 variants don’t allow the players to handle the cards. It’s the dealer who takes care of the complex calculations.

Payout Ratio and Odds on Baccarat in Michigan

As we mentioned earlier, specifications like house edge and RTP remain the same across the board for table games. It’s no different for online baccarat Michigan.

All 3 hands in the game have separate odds and payout ratios. The house edge is fixed at 1.06%. This means the RTP is rated at a whopping 98.94%. In case you’re not aware, RTP stands for Return to player. 98.94% RTP means you can expect to win $98.94 for every $100 you wager. Of course, it’s a theoretical prediction that may or may not come true after millions of hands.

Getting back to the probability for the hands, here is a table for baccarat casino online brands.

Different Versions of Baccarat Games You Can Find in Michigan

Baccarat might be a simple casino game you can play in Michigan, but there are quite a few versions you may come across. It’s important that you understand the subtle differences between them to succeed.

Commission Free Baccarat

As the name suggests, there is no commission even when you win the Banker hand. However, there is a downside to this version. You only get paid 50% of the promised payout if you make a natural 8 as the banker. Also, the RTP is slightly lower at 98.76%.

Dragon Bonus Baccarat

This is more commonly found in land-based casinos in Michigan. The name derives from a side bet known as the Dragon Bonus. The benefit of the side bet is that your potential increases for both natural and non-natural wins by 4 points or more.

EZ Baccarat

This is actually the classic baccarat. There are multiple side bets like the Dragon 7 and Panda 8 that can pay up to 40 to 1 for a winning hand!

Mini and Midi Baccarat

These 2 versions are different simply based on the size of the table. Mini baccarat can house 7 players while Midi baccarat can house 9 players. The traditional version of online baccarat Michigan can seat 14 players.