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The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) continued to stake out its position as perhaps the most aggressive U.S. regulator in pursuing unregulated gaming operators, this time going after popular offshore operator MyBookie.
The MGCB announced Thursday (January 23) that it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Duranbah Limited N.V., the operator of the Curaçao-based MyBookie.ag.
In addition to sports betting and horseracing, the operator offers online casino games.
The offshore operator does not list any U.S. states on its list of prohibited jurisdictions, although it does state in its terms of use that the company’s products “may not be legal in some jurisdictions” and “it is the player's responsibility to determine the law that applies in the country or jurisdiction where they reside”.
“Our investigation into MyBookie.ag found that their operations were accessible to Michigan citizens, which violates state laws,” said Henry Williams, the MGCB’s executive director, in a statement. “We are taking strong action to uphold the principles of fair and legal gaming.”
One of the issues that the board highlighted was that although the operator accepts several conventional payment methods for deposit, including major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, as well as PayPal, withdrawals can only be made via Bitcoin or by bank wire transfer.
The board says that MyBookie has 14 days from receipt of the letter to comply and cease offering gambling options in the state, and that it is prepared to collaborate with the Michigan Attorney General’s office for further legal options if the company fails to do so.
Michigan has been arguably the leader among U.S. regulators in trying to chase offshore operators out of its jurisdiction.
In May 2024, the regulator was the first in the U.S. known to send a cease-and-desist letter to Bovada, one of the most prominent offshore operators doing business in the United States.
After the company complied a few weeks later, adding Michigan to its list of prohibited jurisdictions, several more states followed suit.
Since then, more than a dozen states have been added to Bovada's list of prohibited jurisdictions, bringing the total to 18 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The latest addition came earlier this week, when New Hampshire was added to the list.
In addition to Bovada and now MyBookie, Michigan similarly sent cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes operators, including VGW, Stake, PredictionStrike and Papaya Gaming, throughout 2024 for offering unregulated gaming in the state.
All four operators have since ceased offering real-money games in Michigan.
