6 More Michigan Casinos Reopened Friday

More than half of Michigan’s casinos are now taking bets as of Friday.

Bay Mills Casino in Brimley and all five Kewadin Casinos opened their doors after nearly three months closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Friday, 17 Michigan casinos were open. Three Four Winds Casinos in the southwest region reopened on Monday, making it 20.

Nine Michigan casinos had not yet reopened Friday, including the three commercial casinos in Detroit. Greektown Casino-Hotel, MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino are awaiting word from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for a reopening date.

Nationally, according to the COVID-19 Tracker on the American Gaming Association’s website on Friday, 621 casinos are open and 368 are closed currently.

Bay Mills, Kewadin have restrictions upon opening

There are some temporary changes at Bay Mills, which it announced a partnership this month with DraftKings Sportsbook.

Customers are required to keep a two-machine distance at all times. There are no table games open and hours for the first week are 10 a.m. until midnight.

Table games are also not open at the Kewadin locations in Christmas, Hessel, Manistique, Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace.

According to the casino’s guidelines, “plexiglass barriers have been placed between team members and guests where possible.”

Which Michigan casinos are open?

While Bay Mills Casino reopened at 10 a.m. today. Its counterpart, 2 miles down the road in Brimley, is still closed.

The Bay Mills Indian Community has not set a reopening date for Kings Club Casino. Kings Club is one of three Upper Peninsula casinos still closed.

Upper Peninsula casinos

Eight casinos in the Upper Peninsula are open for business:

• Bay Mills Casino, Brimley: Reopened today.
• Island Resort and Casino, Harris: Was the first Michigan casino to reopen on May 16 after originally announcing a May 6 reopening. Slot machines are open 24/7.
• Kewadin Casinos: All five locations opened Friday.
• Northern Waters Casino Resort, Watersmeet: Reopened on May 22. The casino and bar are now open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Lower Peninsula casinos

These Lower Peninsula casinos are open:

• FireKeepers Casino, Battle Creek: Reopened on June 1. Slot occupancy totals are available on the website. The higher the percentage, the fewer games are available. When occupancy nears 80%, entrances may be closed.
• Four Winds Casinos, three locations: A reopening at noon on June 15 is scheduled for Dowagiac, Hartford and New Buffalo. The South Bend, IN, location will also reopen on June 15.
• Gun Lake Casino, Wayland: The casino opened on June 8. The casino returned to 24/7 operations on Friday. Table games are open 8 a.m. until 2 a.m. The poker room is closed. You can check slot occupancy here.
• Leelanau Sands Casino, Peshawbestown: Reopened on May 29. Table games, Bingo and Thursday Senior Slot Tournaments are back.
• Little River Casino Resort, Manistee: Reopened on May 29. Guests must be age 18 or older to enter the building, not just the casino floor.
• Odawa Casinos: The Odawa location in Mackinaw City opened on May 22. The Petoskey location, which opened May 29, conducted free drive-through COVID-19 testing last weekend. More than 550 local residents took tests, according to the Petoskey News-Review.
• Saganing Eagles Landing Casino and Hotel, Standish: Reopened on June 1 to the general public. The RV park is open.
• Soaring Eagle Casino Resort, Mount Pleasant: Reopened on June 1 to the general public. Soaring Eagle is issuing refunds for their concerts instead of transferring tickets when the shows are rescheduled.
• Turtle Creek Casino, Williamsburg: Reopened on May 29. The hotel is open for reservations.

Which Michigan casinos are closed?

Three LP casinos are still closed:

• Greektown Casino-Hotel, Detroit: Greektown is awaiting word from the governor’s office about a reopening date.
• MGM Grand Detroit: MGM is awaiting word from the governor’s office about a reopening date.
• MotorCity Casino, Detroit: MotorCity is awaiting word from the governor’s office about a reopening date.

Three UP casinos are not open:

• Kings Club Casino, Brimley: The casino will remain closed until further notice, according to a message from the Bay Mills account on Facebook.
• Ojibwa Casinos: No reopening date set for Baraga or Marquette locations.

When will Detroit’s casinos reopen?

Gov. Whitmer has not set a reopening date for Detroit’s casinos; however, much of the state’s economy is slowly reopening.

Whitmer permitted bars and restaurants to open June 8 with a maximum of 50% capacity. Salons and barbershops can reopen this Monday statewide.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board issued reopening guidelines for the Detroit casinos on June 8 for when the governor gives the word. The guidelines included a 15% capacity, no smoking on the casino floor and no poker rooms.

Whitmer had said she hopes to move Michigan to the next phase of reopening by the Fourth of July.