Play Pennsylvania – Authors and Staff
PlayPennsylvania is one of dozens of Play-branded sites in the Catena Media network that provides reliable, trustworthy content and resources on the legal gambling industry. Our site is independently owned and operated and has no ownership ties to any casino – commercial, tribal, online or otherwise.
What we do
- Provide the latest news and information around gambling legislation, legal gaming options, and the Pennsylvania casino industry.
- Educate consumers about safe and responsible gambling.
- Provide reliable resources and reviews for legal land-based and online gambling options.
Our mission
Our mission is to be a trusted source of news, information, and resources for legal gambling in Pennsylvania.
To achieve that mission, we have rigorous editorial standards for publishing, which you can read about here. We also have industry experts who write and fact-check all the content you will find at PlayPennsylvania.
Contact Us
Catena Media Us, Inc.
8565 S. Eastern Avenue
Suite 150
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Meet the team at PlayPennsylvania
Our editorial team includes professional writers and journalists who collectively boast decades of experience covering legal gambling and sports in Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, and beyond.
Head of Content: Tyler Andrews
Tyler Andrews is the Content Lead for all regional Catena Media sites, including PlayPennsylvania. He has also covered gaming expansion in North Carolina, Texas, Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Maryland, and California. Tyler’s current focus is on how Pennsylvania has set the national standard for online casinos.
Lead Writer: Corey Sharp
Corey Sharp is the Lead Writer at PlayPennsylvania, bringing you comprehensive coverage of sports betting and gambling in Pennsylvania. Corey is a 4-for-4 Philly sports fan and previously worked as a writer and editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer and NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Content Editor: Alec Cunningham
Alec Cunningham is a content editor and analyst covering Pennsylvania’s regulated sports betting and online casino industry. She focuses on legislation, revenue trends, operator updates, and responsible gambling, bringing clarity to a rapidly evolving market in the Keystone State. Alec is especially passionate about player protection and gambling addiction awareness, regularly highlighting responsible gaming resources available to Pennsylvania players.
Content Editor: Martin Harris
Martin Harris is a content editor for PlayPennsylvania. He is also a teacher who has reported on poker, online gambling, and sports betting since the mid-2000s. Once a full-time academic (Ph.D., English), he currently teaches part-time in the American Studies program at UNC Charlotte. In 2019, his book Poker & Pop Culture was published by D&B Books.
Contributor: Cole Rush
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. Most of those words can be found in gambling publications. Cole brings a treasure trove of gambling industry experience to PlayPennsylvania. He spent 6 years working in Communications and Marketing at Scientific Games, a major supplier of gambling and lottery products. Since then, he has written extensively from a player’s perspective about any gambling-related platform you can think of. Online casino, online poker, sports betting, sweepstakes, prediction markets, lottery…Cole has covered it all with a keen eye for what players want.
Contributor: Hill Kerby
Hill Kerby comes from a background of poker, sports, and psychology. He brings all of that expertise into his writing, where he contributes content in the growing legalized sports betting, online casino, and gambling industry.
Contributor: Adam Hensley
Adam Hensley is a journalist from Des Moines, Iowa, who covers the legal sports betting and iGaming industry in Pennsylvania. His byline has appeared in the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and sites within the USA Today Network. Hensley graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 and spent his college career working for the Daily Iowan’s sports department, both as an editor and reporter.
Contributor: Dan Holmes
Dan Holmes covers online gambling, sports betting, sports media, and sports betting legislative matters for PlayPennsylvania. He’s the author of three books and previously reported for Major League Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Contributor: Noah DMello
Noah DMello is a journalist covering Pennsylvania’s online gambling market. His work breaks down regulation, operator strategy, and player access into clear, actionable insights. With a background in finance and sports writing, he focuses on accuracy, clarity, and real-world impact.
Past contributors
Valerie Cross
Valerie Cross helped manage and contribute to Catena Media’s Play-branded sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan, and has covered poker and the legal gambling industry since 2016. Valerie earned her BA from Furman University and holds an MA and a PhD in language education from Indiana University.
Chris Imperiale
Chris Imperiale has served as Managing Editor of PlayPennsylvania and of Catena Media’s US online lottery site, PlayiLottery. He has a journalism degree from Rutgers University and was formerly on staff at Bleacher Report.
Derek Helling
Derek Helling is a freelance journalist who resides in Chicago. He is a 2013 graduate of the University of Iowa and covers the intersection of sports, business, and the law.
Dustin Gouker
Dustin Gouker has been a journalist for more than 15 years, working as a reporter, editor, and designer. Besides contributing to PlayPennsylvania, Dustin’s career has also included stops at The Washington Post and the D.C. Examiner.
Nathan Frederick
Nathan Frederick is an award-winning writer with more than 1,000 published bylines and two decades of journalism experience. His work has won awards from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists, the Keystone Press Association, and the Associated Press Sports Editors. He has also authored three books, one of which debuted as an Amazon No. 1 New Release.
Brian Cross
Brian Cross is a freelance writer who studied Professional Writing and Journalism at the University of Cincinnati. Brian cut his teeth at Cincinnati’s alt-weekly as a contributing writer for over 10 years. He grew up tagging along to the horse track with dad on the weekends, and still picks horses based on the color of their silks.
Katie Kohler
Katie Kohler is a Philadelphia-area-based award-winning journalist who, in the past, served as Managing Editor at PlayPennsylvania and covers the Pennsylvania gambling industry with an emphasis on sports betting, online casino, poker, and the lottery.
Bill Gelman
Bill Gelman is a veteran sports writer based just outside of Philadelphia and not too far from the Jersey Shore. Bill covers the legal gambling industry, including sports betting, online casinos, and Atlantic City casino news.
Dave Bontempo
Dave Bontempo, a multiple national award-winning boxing commentator and writer, authors NFL betting columns for the Press of Atlantic City and IGaming Player, among others. He extensively covers legal New Jersey and Pennsylvania sports betting and is also an on-camera personality for Eagles betting content in the Catena Media network.
Matthew Lomon
Matthew Lomon has been a contributor at Catena Media’s network of regional sites since July 2022. He first broke into covering the legal North American gambling industry with PlayCanada. Since then, Matthew’s reporting has extended to PlayMichigan, PlayPennsylvania, and PlayIllinois. Based out of Toronto, Ontario, Matthew is an avid (bordering on fanatic) sports fan.
T.J. McBride
T.J. McBride is a writer and reporter based in Denver. He covers the gambling landscape across multiple states in addition to his main beat covering the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. His NBA work can be found at several major media outlets, including ESPN, FiveThirtyEight, and Bleacher Report.
Advertising disclosure
PlayPennsylvania is an independent publication with no ownership stake in any casino brand. Our network of sites is, however, advertising-supported. Some of those advertisers include commercial casinos.
There is no connection between our advertising and our news content. Our news, analysis and reviews are objectively produced by our writing team. We do not accept sponsored posts or other forms of “native” advertising.
- In some cases, we may receive a commission or other financial compensation when you visit an online poker room, sportsbook or casino via a link on our site.
- In other cases, casinos or poker rooms may pay us in exchange for advertising space. These ads are clearly marked as sponsorship or are otherwise obviously demarcated from content (e.g. banner ads).
Our Editorial Policies and Review Process
PlayPennsylvania has a talented team of professional editors and writers who are experts in various aspects of the legal gambling industry. Most of our esteemed writers live in Pennsylvania where they regularly cover PA gambling on the ground, utilizing local contacts and primary sources in the PA gaming space. When we use secondary sources, our policy is to make it clear where our information came from, and appropriately cite all references.
All of our content at PlayPennsylvania is thoroughly researched and goes through a robust review process before publication. We have a team of copy editors that checks for grammar and spelling errors. PlayPennsylvania’s managing editor Chris Imperiale then fact-checks all articles before they go live. Our reviews are done by a professional team of writers with intimate knowledge of online gambling websites in PA.
We strive to produce the best objective resources on gambling options and local sports betting and industry news. In the event that errors occur in our published materials, they are quickly corrected. When significant updates are made to an article, our policy is to explicitly state what was added and when the update was made.
Media appearances
Members of our team are regularly called upon for expertise on a number of topics pertaining to the regulated gambling industry in Pennsylvania. For media inquiries, please contact press@catenamedia.com.
Freelance opportunities at PlayPA
We are always looking for freelance and full-time writers in and near Pennsylvania to cover the burgeoning, ever-evolving gambling culture in the state. Familiarity with the Pennsylvania market—and gambling industry in general—is highly preferred.
Here’s what we’re looking for in general:
- Experience in covering news or writing page content for internet-based outlets.
- Willingness to work quickly under deadlines.
- Knowledge of SEO best practices.
If that sounds like you, please send a resume, links to content you’ve written, and your rate.
Any potential writer should feel free to contact us, whether your skills align with the listed jobs below or not.
Current opportunities:
Site reviewers
PlayPennsylvania is looking for writers who can review gambling sites.
The first gambling sites and apps started going live in the summer of 2019, and we need people to review them for potential bettors.
Qualifications:
- Must be based in Pennsylvania so that you can access the apps.
- Have access to a smartphone capable of accessing gambling sites and apps.
- Be capable of using an app and then writing down your experience and opinions of it from a user perspective.
- Experience in writing about gambling is preferred, but if you are familiar with online gambling and are a qualified writer otherwise, you’ll be considered.
Promotions writers
Sites often run promotions that will provide users with free bets, free money, deposit bonuses, and odds boosts.
We need writers who are capable of identifying and writing about these promotions from time to time, and to break down how users claim and use them.
Qualifications:
- Must be based in Pennsylvania and have access to a smartphone capable of using sites and apps.
- Be able to write content about promotions in an entertaining way.
- Experience in writing about gambling is preferred, but if you are familiar with online gambling and are a qualified writer otherwise, you’ll be considered.