PlayMaryland is your local resource for information about gambling in Maryland. We have all you need to know about the world of in-person and online sports betting in the Old Line State.
Keep reading to see who we are, and how to get in touch with us.
The PlayMaryland mission
To give our readers complete, objective and useful information and resources about the legal gambling industry in Maryland.
Meet the PlayMaryland team
Every author who writes for PlayMaryland is either a full-time employee of Catena Media or a carefully vetted freelance writer. We do not accept submissions from guest writers, nor do we publish any unsolicited external content.
Meet the team!
Managing Editor: Steve Schult
Steve Schult is a veteran of the gambling industry with more than a decade of experience covering the space. After earning his journalism degree from Marist College, the New York native began covering high-stakes poker tournaments and the U.S. gambling industry for various outlets. Following stints as a writer for Card Player Media, Bluff Magazine and the World Series of Poker, Schult serves as the Managing Editor for a number of Catena Media regional sites, including PlayMaryland.
Writer: Hill Kerby
Hill Kerby is a proponent of legal, safe, and responsible gambling. He regularly contributes to the growing betting industry with the help of his background in poker, sports and psychology. Hill covers legal gambling news and regulations in established and emerging sports betting and casino states for Catena Media.
Writer: TJ McBride
T.J. McBride is a writer and reporter based in Denver, Colorado who brings a wealth of experience to PlayMaryland. He covers the Denver Nuggets as a beat writer. His byline can be found across many websites such as ESPN, FiveThirtyEight, Bleacher Report, and others. TJ is a regular contributor for Catena Media’s regional sites, covering emerging casino and sports betting states.
Contributor: Sam Hollingsworth
Sam is a native New Yorker with a long history of sports betting as well as watching, wagering, and owning racehorses, and, of course, casino-frequenting. He enjoys visiting sporting venues — anything from the U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to any baseball game regardless of the level of play or length of the drive to get there, and any horse racing venue. Sam is a marketing executive, father, and dog owner with a zest for life and love for exploring.
Former Content Manager: Andrew Champagne
Andrew Champagne is a former Content Manager at Catena Media. He’s also an award-winning writer and producer. A passionate storyteller, Andrew boasts a career that has included stints at The Daily Racing Form, TVG Network, and HRTV. Born and raised in upstate New York, Andrew now resides in Northern California’s Bay Area. You can often find him handicapping horse races, planning his next trip to Las Vegas, bowling reasonably well, and golfing incredibly poorly.
Former Managing Editor: Jason Jarrett
Jason Jarrett is a former managing editor at Catena Media where he contributed to reporting on PlayMaryland and other regional gambling news sites. Jason has more than 25 years of journalism experience, spending nearly 10 years as a senior editor at the Austin American-Statesman.
What is PlayMaryland?
First and foremost, PlayMaryland is a source of news and information about Maryland’s various legal gambling options. We have pages about the places you can visit, the kinds of games you can play and what gambling activities and locations you can expect to find in the state going forward.
PlayMaryland is also an affiliate marketing website. We partner with legal gambling providers in the state to provide gambling bonuses you can claim. However, our affiliate partners do not have editorial control or influence over the content we produce on PlayMaryland beyond their own advertising. We are a news site first, and we cover relevant stories concerning legal gambling in the state as they occur.
PlayMaryland is part of a network of similar gambling affiliate sites owned and operated by Catena Media. Catena Media is a publicly traded international corporation headquartered in Malta and listed on NASDAQ Nordic. Everything that we do is available for regulatory scrutiny wherever interested regulators have jurisdiction. We do not and will not ever cover, promote or do business with offshore gambling sites. Catena’s business is strictly confined to legal gambling.
Catena Media is licensed as a registered vendor in each state where a license is necessary. Maryland specifically exempts media outlets from this requirement. However, if the government of Maryland decides that media outlets in general or Catena Media specifically must apply for a license, we will do so.
The PlayMaryland writing process
Our first step for completing any page on PlayMaryland is to acquire information. The information we use is as close to the primary source as we can find. If we discuss existing Maryland law, we use the text of the law itself, not a paraphrase or summation of it. If the subject is a proposal or measure that might become law, we cite the measure itself and, in many cases, speak to the state representative or senator who wrote the bill or is serving as its chief sponsor. If there’s a regulatory issue, we will speak to relevant personnel at the Maryland State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency or other law enforcement officials in the state.
What PlayMaryland does not do is publish gossip, rumors, or hearsay. We publish stories and pages only after we have confirmed them. Though we may publish our opinions from time to time, none of the claims in our reporting will be suppositions or unsupported by objective data. If you’re looking for a rumor mill, PlayMaryland is not the site for you.
The next step in the process is to write the piece. Our writers are either full-time employees of Catena Media or freelancers we have vetted and with whom we have existing contracts. Furthermore, we do not accept guest submissions or posts at any time. All of our content is generated internally and in collaboration with PlayMaryland’s editors and reviewers.
Once the piece is done, it then undergoes a detailed refining procedure by both copy and content editors at PlayMaryland. These individuals have years of experience in both gambling and style and correct the piece for its grammar and appearance. They also double-check the factual claims in the piece and check the writer’s sources. Almost every word on PlayMaryland also undergoes review by the site’s managing editor, Jason Jarrett, who adds years of experience to shape and perfect each page.
The final step is in your hands. Although we strive for authenticity and accuracy at all times, writing at PlayMaryland is a human process, and we occasionally have errors in our reporting. If you see any information that you believe to be incorrect, please let us know. Be sure to describe the page in question and/or provide a link.
Be a PlayMaryland writer
While we don’t accept submissions from guests, we certainly don’t mean to dissuade you from becoming part of our team if you have the desire and skill to join us. We are always eager to hear from Maryland-based writers who are passionate about gambling.
If interested, we suggest you browse Catena’s careers page for open positions. Gambling continues to grow in the US, and in order to keep pace, we must grow with it.
Catena Media offers the opportunity for a career, generous salaries, and excellent benefits. If you are looking for a great work-life balance, Catena is the place to be.
Drop us a line
Readers can also email us here to suggest future topics to be explored.
The staff at PlayMaryland wants to hear from you. If you are a member of the media and would like our expertise or to interview us, we are happy to assist. Reach out to [email protected].
Though we don’t publish rumors, we’re certainly happy to look into something if you’re hearing some buzz. If you have a complaint, then we obviously want to know about it. And if you’re just enjoying yourself on PlayMaryland, then we’d love to hear about that, too.
Above all else, let us know if there’s any way that we can make your time on the site more comfortable or effective.