Ojibwa Baraga Casino | 500+ Slots, Table Games & Restaurants in Michigan

I'd been coming to Baraga for about five years, mostly on weekends after work. That Friday night I was just killing some time between dinner and heading home when I hit the progressive on the machine by the restrooms. I literally froze for a second, then I just kept saying 'No way, no way' over and over. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely call the attendant. I'm using it to finally fix up the house—new roof, some updates we've been putting off, and paying off my truck.

I was having a really rough stretch at work, nothing was going right, so my buddy convinced me to take a night off and come up here with him. We were at the blackjack table for maybe an hour when I caught fire—just kept doubling down at the right moments. The dealer kept apologizing, which was funny. By the end of the night I couldn't believe the chips I had stacked up. My wife still doesn't belive it happened, honestly. We're putting most of it away for retirement, but I'm getting myself a decent truck I've had my eye on.

I drove up from downstate specifically for that tournament—I've been playing poker seriously for about three years now. I made it thorugh the first few rounds pretty steadily, then in the final table I caught some amazing cards when it counted. The last hand against that guy from Marquette, I had pocket aces and he couldn't fold. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I'd pass out. This money is life-changing—I'm actually going to take a year off, maybe travel some, and then figure out what's next for work.

My daughter had just gotten accepted to college and we were celebrating at the casino—honestly just wanted to play a little roulette for fun. I put twenty bucks on my daughter's birth month and hit it twice in a row. I was screaming so loud people looked over, I didn't even care. The second win I started crying, I was just so happy in that moment. Most of it's going into her college fund to help with expenses, and we're taking the family out to a really nice dinner to celebrate everything.

I'd been playing that Buffalo Gold machine for years without much luck, so I usually just do fifty bucks and call it a night. That December evening I'm standing there feeding twentys in and suddenly the whole screen just lights up. I was so shocked I had to sit down for a minute. The casino host came over and I remember laughing and saying 'This can't be real.' I'm using some to pay down debt and taking my grandsons on a fishing trip they've been asking about.

I wasn't even planning to play that night—my sister dragged me to the casino because she wanted to try the new restaurant. While she was getting a table I wandered over to Three Card Poker and just started playing casual, nothing serious. Got a straight flush on like my fourth hand and I'm thinking 'okay, maybe I should quit while I'm ahead.' But I kept playing and hit another big hand right after. My sister found me up at the cage laughing like an idiot. I'm putting it toward my son's trade school and keeping some for a nice vacation next summer.