Martin F. Harris

For more than twenty years, Martin Harris has covered all aspects of the gambling industry. Early in his career, he spent much of his time on the road covering major poker tournaments around the United States, with regular assignments at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. His reporting eventually took him overseas to cover events across Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. He even once won a media poker tournament in Ukraine.

In recent years, Martin’s attention has turned toward other forms of legal gambling, among them casino games online and in person, sports betting, and social and sweepstakes casinos, where he has steadily built up Sweepstakes Coins on favorites like blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and a handful of slots (and successfully redeemed them, too). He’s also explored and reported on prediction markets as an emerging force in the industry.

Martin earned a Ph.D. in English and has written several academic publications and books, including the award-winning Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America’s Favorite Card Game. His book actually makes a brief cameo in Paul Schrader’s 2021 film The Card Counter, starring Oscar Isaac. He and his family live on a horse farm in North Carolina, where his time goes toward watching sports, making music, reading, writing, and teaching part-time in UNC Charlotte’s American Studies program.