GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A new type of casino experience will soon call Grand Rapids home, but it's not what you might expect. Instead of a traditional brick-and-mortar place to go gambling, Evolution North America is bringing a live dealer studio to the city.
"It's like playing at the table game at a casino, but it's streamed online, and you're playing from the kind of comfort of your own home," Evolution North America CEO Jacob Claesson said.
Unlike typical casinos where people can physically enter a building to gamble, Evolution's facility will serve as a production studio for an online gaming experience.
"We build the broadcasting Studios, where we build a physical Blackjack, Roulette tables. We put in the tech to stream, the cameras, the servers, the infrastructure to stream that online to a player anywhere in the state," Claesson said.
The company employs live, licensed dealers who interact with players through digital platforms. Gamblers can use their smartphones or computers and still have that personal connection.
"There's several poker variants, video poker and but then you also have the more game shows, the category that we call it, which is more bigger studios. It's more of a TV production," Claesson said.
According to Claesson, the personal touch is what many online gamblers look for. To provide this experience to Michiganders, the company needed to establish operations within the state.
"We're just kind of a bit of growing pain in the sense that we are hiring over 100 people every month here in Southfield. We just see that online gaming is growing," Claesson said.
The decision to expand to Grand Rapids came after Claesson was impressed with the local hospitality industry during a visit to the city.
"I really thought the kind of hospitality and the service industry, I was really impressed when I visited," Claesson said.
Evolution doesn't operate its own gambling app but instead provides services to existing online casinos.
"We think that this live dealer is something that's going to grow a lot in the US as more players get familiar with it, as we expand, as we introduce more games," Claesson said.
The Grand Rapids facility is still in development, with equipment being prepared for future operations. The studio will not be open to the public for in-person gambling.
Addressing gambling addiction concerns
Michigan's online gambling industry continues to show significant growth. In December 2024, the Michigan Gaming Control Board reported that internet gaming grossed $244 million, the highest monthly total in state history.
As online gambling expands, so do concerns about addiction. Amy Embury, Substance Use Prevention Manager at Lakeshore Regional Entity, highlighted the need for people to seek out help.
"We hear stories often about the chasing. It's often about the next bet, and I'm going to bet to make up for what I've lost," Embury said.
Lakeshore Regional Entity works to increase awareness about resources available for those struggling with gambling addiction.
"The Problem Gambling Helpline calls have increased," Embury said.
Evolution trains its employees to identify potential problem gambling behaviors among players.
"We have mechanisms how to report that to the operators so they can take all those actions. And that's also the good thing with the regulated market like Michigan; there are rules in place on how you should be able to self-exclude on these sites," Claesson said.
RESOURCES FOR HELP
Michigan Problem Gambling helpline: 1-800-270-7117
Gamble Treatment Providers: Here
Stay Out of the Danger Zone: Here
Gamblers Anonymous: Here
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence. The content was reviewed and edited by Scripps News journalists before publication.
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