Ojibwa Casinos, Marquette and Baraga

Ojibwa Casino Resorts online gambling partnerships

In July 2020, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community signed a deal with Golden Nugget to provide an online sports betting and online casino app in the state.

Golden Nugget is perhaps not a well-known brand in Michigan, but it comes with high marks and deep success in other states. In New Jersey, Golden Nugget is the market leader in the online casino market, boasting 700+ games. And that is the brand’s bread and butter.

Tilman Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget, said that online sports betting is good, but online casinos are “where the money is, that’s where the customer is more valuable, and that’s where the big money is going to be made going forward.”

The casino at Ojibwa Casino Resort – Marquette

The Ojibwa Casino Resort in Marquette is now the larger of the two KBIC-owned properties. Thanks to a $34-million renovation completed in late 2019, the venue now hosts more than 500 slot machines, several table games, and a small poker area.

Slot machines range in denomination from penny slots to $5 machines and there are standard slots, progressive slot games, video poker, and Keno slots available for play. Some of the latest titles to grace the floor include Lightning Link, Cleopatra Gold, and Mighty Ca$h Bonus.

As far as casino table games go, players who favor blackjack will find the most options and opportunities. The casino offers both pitch and shoe blackjack, with two decks for the former and six for the latter. Bet levels for blackjack games at Ojibwa are between $5 and $300 per wager.

It is also possible to find craps games, Let It Ride, and roulette at the Marquette Ojibwa Casino. All three games have bet levels as low as $3, and it’s possible to find bonus bets on both craps and Let It Ride.

One thing to note is that the table games at Ojibwa Casino in Marquette do not run for 24 hours a day. Instead, you can play most of the games between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight on weekdays and 4 p.m. and 2 a.m. on weekends. Call to double-check the availability before you come, particularly if you have to travel a bit to reach the property.

The casino at Ojibwa Casino Resort – Baraga

The Baraga Ojibwa Casino Resort offers many of the same amenities as its sister property. While the sheer number of slot machines available is lower, the options are roughly the same.

So, visitors to the Baraga property will discover more than 340 slot machines waiting for them. These machines offer denominations between 1 cent and $5.

There are video slot machines, progressive slots, video poker, and Keno machines available for play. Titles you’ll find at Ojibwa Baraga include Dragon Link, Quick Hit, and Fortune Coin.

The table games you can play at this casino are currently closed.

Rewards Club

The Rewards Club is available for any patron at either Ojibwa Casino Resort location. By g up, you can put yourself into position to receive a host of perks for your play.

Each point you earn with your card is good for redemption at various tribal facilities. You can use your loyalty points for things like:

• Casino merchandise
• Gas vouchers at the Pines Convenience Center in Baraga
• Food vouchers to the PressBox Sports Bar & Grill at the Baraga location
• Free play on the casinos’ slot machines

In addition, the Rewards Club is the hub for promotions that the two casinos have to offer. If you want to get in line for some goodies, a hip is the first place to start.

Other promotions

Promotions at these two casinos tend to be either weekly or seasonal. Examples of weekly promos at these resorts include:

• Good as Gold Hot Seats: Fridays, two winners chosen per hour for $250 in free play.
• Birthday Rewards: $15 in free play.
• Senior Rewards: Mondays Rewards Club 55+ unlock $10 in free play and earn 5 same day points.

The Ojibwa Casino Resorts’ amenities

Like most casinos, the Ojibwa Casino Resorts both have several amenities beyond the gaming options. After all, it’s best to create a space where people can relax for many hours on end.

Hotel

At this time, the Baraga location is the only one to feature a hotel for its guests. Ojibwa Casino Resort Marquette guests will have to avail themselves of the lodging options surrounding the location for the time being.

However, the Ojibwa Casino Hotel Baraga is a small, but comfortable, place for gamblers to rest for the evening. The small property features 40 guest rooms, including two with jacuzzi service inside.

Guests at the hotel enjoy free wireless internet and access to an indoor pool with a whirlpool and sauna. Those who are government employees, of AARP, or of the Rewards Club can get special discounts as a reward for their loyalty.

There are also two restaurants onsite at Baraga and a bowling alley for the whole family. Best of all, the entire facility is smoke-free.

Dining

Both Ojibwa Casino locations maintain two dining options for those visiting their respective properties. In both cases, there is a place to get a decent bite to eat and a bar-type area.

For the Baraga location, there’s PressBox Bar and Grill offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks.

At Marquette you’ll find MQT’s Superior Eats, which serves as the location’s main restaurant. You can get any meal, from breakfast to dinner, and sample some of the fresh catches hauled out of nearby Lake Superior. And then there’s The Lounge for bites, drinks, and local bands and other entertainment.

Meeting spaces

There are also meeting spaces located at both locations.  In fact, the recent expansion to the Marquette property specifically added an event center to its portfolio.

Meanwhile, Baraga maintains two conference room facilities that are available for rental. Each room can hold up to 80 guests and is great for birthdays, graduations, family reunions, and other meetings.

Ojibwa Casino Resorts history

Though the Ojibwa Casino properties are not terribly expansive in scope, they hold an important place in United States gambling history. Keweenaw Bay Indian Community lands were the first place to host a tribal casino in the US, which occurred after the tribal council issued a permit to tribal member Fred Dakota in 1982.

Though the action touched off years of legal battles, it was an important and necessary first step in bringing legal gambling to the Native American tribes around the country. Although Dakota got the ball rolling, the tribe only waited three years until opening its own casino in 1985.

At the time, the tribe elected to stick a few blackjack tables into a bowling alley facility that it owned. The bowling alley is still there, of course, but the growing casino around it is now known as the Ojibwa Casino Resort in Baraga.

Sometime after, the tribe decided to open a second casino in Marquette. Given that Marquette is growing rapidly, the new site became the recipient of a massive facelift and tens of millions of dollars in renovations.

Between the two casinos, there are nearly 1,000 slot machines, several table games, a bingo hall, a hotel, and, of course, a bowling alley. Although you’d never mistake either location for a Vegas-style casino, both are excellent examples of how to build a casino operation from the ground up.