Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge online gambling partnerships

In February 2020, Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge’s owner and operator, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, signed a long-term partnership with William Hill. The deal made William Hill the tribe’s exclusive provider of online sports betting and online casino gaming throughout Michigan, pending regulatory approval.

In addition to launching online casino and online sports betting products, the pair opened a retail book now called Onyx Sports Book by at Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel in nearby Williamsburg in September 2020. A satellite sportsbook location also opened inside Leelanau Sands, featuring sports betting kiosks.

William Hill launched online casino gaming and online sports betting features in early 2021. In August 2021, the William Hill brand was reimagined under the banner of Caesars Sportsbook and Casino.

The casino at Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge

The 25,980-square-foot casino at Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge is open until 1 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on the weekends.

It features as many as 350 slots and eight table games. Plus, there’s bingo running four times a week.

That means a small selection of slots, the most popular table games and some serious bingo action.

The casino at Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge runs a variety of promotions, including:

• Point multipliers
• Giveaways
• Special events
• Euchre tournaments
• Weekly polka party
• Lucky Loot: Win a share of $40,000 in cash and prizes
• Stay & Play Package: Starting at $55
• Seniors Slot Tournaments: 50 years and older
• First Responder Appreciation Day: Second Wednesday of every month
• Casino Birthday Promotion: Swipe at a kiosk and win point multipliers or e-credits
• Veterans Appreciation Day: First Wednesday of every month
• Super Seniors Day: Every Tuesday for ages 65 and up
• Forever Young: Win a share of $3,000 in e-credits

Slots

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge features more than 350 slots and video poker machines.

There’s a good selection of state-of-the-art reels, slot machines with bonus games, keno and video poker.

Top slots at Leelanau Sands include:

• Crazy Money Deluxe
• King of Dragons
• The Walking Dead
• Lightning Link
• Cash Spin
• Dragon Link
• Fu Dao Le
• China Shores
• Cleopatra

Leelanau Sands also features progressive slots with jackpots that grow with every qualifying bet. The Dragon Link, Lightning Link and Lock It Link jackpots can grow well above $10,000.

Table games

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge has just eight table games, but the classics and the latest casino table game trends are represented .

Table games at Leelanau Sands include:

• Blackjack
• Craps
• Mississippi stud
• Roulette
• Three-card poker

There’s even euchre games on Mondays at Leelanau.

Bingo

There’s bingo at Leelanau Sands Casino in the Birch Room. Games run Wednesday through Friday starting at 5 p.m. and Sundays at noon. Midweek bingo packets start at just $15, and it’s only $20 on Sundays.

Leelanau Sands Casino Rewards Card

The Leelanau Sands Casino Rewards Card offers rewards for play and discounts on the property.

Membership is free, and the card is good at Leelanau Sands and the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel in Williamsburg.

You can use your card for discounts on accommodations and restaurants at both casino properties. Plus, cards can be used to earn comps redeemable for food and accommodations.

Leelanau Sands Casino offers five levels of membership:

• Sapphire: Includes birthday promotions and complimentary valet.
• Ruby: Sapphire benefits plus discounts on gas, hotel rooms, restaurants, retail, golf, spa, concerts. Includes 2x promotion bonus entries.
• Emerald: Ruby benefits plus 48-hour pre-sale on concert tickets, priority service lanes, invitation-only events. Includes 3x promotion bonus entries.
• Pinnacle: Emerald benefits plus personal host, complimentary hotel room upgrades and late checkouts, 30-minute slot machine holds. Includes 5x promotion bonus entries.
• Onyx: Pinnacle benefits plus complimentary VIP experiences and 7x promotion bonus entries.

The card can also be used at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa for golf, spa services and shopping.

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge sportsbook

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge partnered with America’s leading sports betting company, William Hill, to provide retail sports betting at Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge and Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel. Sports betting was permitted at the casinos starting in September 2020.

The book is called Onyx Sports Book by William Hill at Turtle Creek in nearby Williamsburg, Michigan. Leelanau Sands  has a satellite location with sports betting kiosks.

Both opened shortly after 2020 football season kicked off.

William Hill was to be Leelanau Sands’ exclusive provider of online sports betting and online casino gaming throughout Michigan. William Hill’s brand changed to Caesars Sportsbook and Casino in August 2021.

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge poker room

There is no poker room at Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge.

However, the casino does run a single No-Limit Texas Hold ’em poker table beginning at 4 p.m. every Friday. There are 10 spots available in the game.

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge amenities

The Leelanau Sands Lodge

The Lodge is Leelanau Sands Casino’s Leelanau Peninsula hotel. The 50-room hotel near Traverse City features bay views and a variety of modern conveniences adjacent to Leelanau Sands Casino

Hotel room amenities include:

• 37-inch flat screen LCD TVs with cable TV
• Complimentary wireless internet
• In-room coffee makers and hair dryers, microwaves and mini-fridges

Further hotel amenities include:

• Outdoor deck with bay views
• Eyaawing Museum & Cultural Center
• Free coffee/tea 24/7 in lobby
• Free shuttle to casino

Dining and entertainment

The Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge features a restaurant, two bars and a showroom

Here are the details:

• Big Dex’s Restaurant: Inside Leelanau Sands Casino and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Monthly specials, burgers, soup and salad bar, and grab-and-go items.
• Seasons: Buffet-style dining in a newly renovated casual restaurant atmosphere.
• Suttons Bay Bar: The bar on the casino floor at Leelanau Sands Casino serves local beer, spirits and beverages.
• Showroom Bar: Additional bar right next to the showroom, open during entertainment events.
• The Leelanau Sands Showroom: 1,000-seat showroom featuring live music, including a schedule of national touring acts and weekly polka classics.

Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge history

The Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge started out as the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians’ bingo palace in Peshawbestown, Michigan, back in 1984.

A 1995 renovation turned it into a casino, and in 2013 a $2.5 million makeover made it the Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge it is today.

The Leelanau Sands Casino’s first major renovation in nearly two decades revamped the interior to reflect the natural beauty of the region and its colors, forests and unique feeling.

The former Bingo Hall and Elements Lounge was converted into the Maple Room, featuring slots and video poker machines. The full-service bar lounge outside the Sands Showroom was updated and The Birch Room on the north end of the casino became the newly designed Bingo Hall. New concessions and a welcome center and cultural showcase for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was added

Custom chandeliers, tapered columns, fixtures and a stained glass woodland mural were added to the casino’s Cedar Room. Plus, a light structure was extended over a new pit area, with blackjack, three card poker, craps and roulette tables.

Finally, Big Dex’s Restaurant was remodeled, and on the casino floor, older slots were swapped out for new ones.

Of course, while all this was happening, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was also busy building a Northern Michigan gaming and hospitality empire.

The tribe now owns and operates Grand Traverse Resort & Casinos, which encompasses three gaming, entertainment, dining and hotel properties in Northern Michigan.

As mentioned, there’s the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel in Williamsburg, which offers more than 1,100 slots, 25 table games, a hotel, four restaurants and three bars. Then the Leelanau Sands Casino & Lodge, with the above-mentioned bingo hall, 350 slots and a selection of eight table games

Finally, there’s the non-gaming Grand Traverse Resort and Spa with 900 acres of year-round entertainment, recreation, relaxation and activities for all.

In September 2020, the tribe opened sports betting at the two casino locations in partnership with famed sports betting brand William Hill. At Turtle Creek, the Onyx Sports Book opened in September 2020 with a sports bar feel. At Leelanau Sands, a satellite location featuring sports betting kiosks opened up the road.

In August 2021, the William Hill brand changed to Caesars Sportsbook and Casino.