Content Editor
Martin has worked in the gambling industry either as a freelancer or full-time since the mid-2000s, reporting on major developments like the "poker boom," the rise of daily fantasy sports, the fast growth of sports betting, and social and sweepstakes sites.
Martin has an extensive background as a writer and editor for a variety of industry outlets, including many years each at PokerStars and PokerNews. He also has 25+ years of experience teaching college-level courses on writing, literature, and film.
Martin's book "Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America's Favorite Card Game," a comprehensive history of poker and its depictions in film, television, music, and other areas of popular culture, won the Global Poker Award for Media Content of the Year in 2019.
Besides writing a book on poker history, Martin has written books and articles on horror and science films as well as two novels. His most recent book of essays, "Horror and Science Fiction Cinema and Society," was published by Routledge in late 2024.
Martin Harris is a gambling writer and editor who has been covering the industry for more than twenty years. Much of his early career was spent on the road reporting from major poker tournaments across the United States, with frequent assignments at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. His work has also taken him abroad, where he has covered events in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. In addition to his reporting, Martin has logged countless hours in New Jersey poker rooms, both as a player and as a reporter.
More recently, Martin has shifted his focus to other types of legal gambling, including other casino games (both online and in person), sports betting, and social and sweepstakes casinos, where he has steadily been trying to accumulate Sweepstakes Coins playing favorite games like blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and a few favorite slots.
Martin holds a Ph.D. in English and is the author of several academic publications and books, including the award-winning Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America’s Favorite Card Game. The book actually makes a brief appearance in the 2021 film The Card Counter, written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Oscar Isaac. He lives with his family on a horse farm in North Carolina and enjoys watching sports, making music, reading, writing, and teaching part-time in the American Studies program at UNC Charlotte.
Catena Media
Content Editor
2020-present
PokerNews, PokerStars, World Poker Tour
Poker Reporter
2008-2019
UNC Charlotte, American Studies program
Adjunct Professor
2011-present
University of Indiana at Bloomington
Ph.D., English
2000
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A., English
1994
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., English
1990
UNC Tar Heels, Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets
DOOK (i.e., Duke)
The Cincinnati Kid
Short-Stacked Shamus
Global Poker Award, Media Content of the Year (2019)
for Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America’s Favorite Card Game
Playing poker online, starting during the “boom” years (2003 and after).
Online gambling has expanded to such a great extent over recent years, it has entirely changed the place of gambling in society, generally speaking, making it much more mainstream and accepted than before.
The Biggest Game in Town by Al Alvarez.
The gambler’s fallacy is the obvious one, the false belief that the last spin, roll, or hand has anything to do with the next one. My pet peeve, though, is people referring to “counting cards” in poker when it only applies to blackjack.
I love sites that have a “vault” where you can hide part of your bankroll away while you play with the rest. It is such a great tool for bankroll management (and also sometimes helps to prevent tilting away your funds). All sites should have a similar feature.
Traditional online poker is my favorite, but I also enjoy blackjack, baccarat, and video poker.
I once won a poker tournament in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Always keep records when gambling, and always be honest when you do.
