About PlayCA

PlayCA provides readers with the latest news about legal gambling options in California. We report on the state’s tribal casinos and card rooms, the California Lottery, horse racing and other gambling-related news. We also often highlight legislative efforts to expand gambling in the state. That includes the ongoing push to legalize sports betting.

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Catena Media US, Inc.: 8565 S. Eastern Avenue, Ste 150, Las Vegas, NV 89123

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What is PlayCA?

PlayCA is an affiliate news site, part of the Catena Media network. Catena Media owns and operates dozens of sites throughout the country that cover all forms of legal gambling. The network includes both state-specific sites that focus their coverage on individual states (like PlayCA) and sites reporting on US gambling at the national level.

At PlayCA, we only cover legal gambling stories and issues, including legal online gambling sites. Gambling sites that operate without a license or legal authorization are not our concern, other than to warn readers about the obvious risks associated with such sites.

We have affiliate partnerships with several prominent gambling companies. As a result, advertisements for legal gambling options appear on our site pages. However, none of these companies have any editorial control or influence over the content at PlayCA. All of the stories we report and information we provide about California gambling are produced independently and without any input from affiliates. Additionally, we do not accept any paid advertisement offers or promotional requests from external sites, nor will we ever do so.

Our mission

Simply stated, our mission at PlayCA is to accurately cover all areas of California gambling, including casinos, card rooms, the lottery, horse racing, and efforts to legalize sports betting and other potential gambling expansion in the state.

PlayCA strives to improve the experience of all California gamblers by providing reliable reporting and expert analysis of current gambling news in California, as well as by offering the best available bonus offers for legal gambling options. We additionally aim to be a valuable resource of information to anyone seeking answers to questions about gambling in California, be they Californians looking for legal gambling options or other media members who are themselves reporting on gambling in the Golden State.

Who writes for PlayCA?

Our contributors here at PlayCA come from many different backgrounds, although all of our writers have experience and expertise both in the gambling industry and in journalism. Many have backgrounds as reporters writing for newspapers, magazines, websites and other outlets. Some have worked in casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms or other gambling-related contexts. All have covered gambling news and/or sports for a variety of markets, both local and national.

Such outlets include ESPN, the Los Angeles Daily News, LA WeeklyLos Angeles Magazine and USA TODAY.

Our team includes avid sports fans and sports bettors, too, as well as handicappers and poker players. In other words, many of our writers themselves have firsthand experience with different forms of legal gambling in California.

Tyler Andrews

Contributor: Tyler Andrews

Tyler covers sports, sports law, and gambling in the Golden State. He has also covered similar topics for several of Catena Media’s regional sites, including NCSharpPlayPAPlayFLPlayOhio, and PlayMA. Tyler specializes in covering gambling legislation and news in emerging US markets.

Check out content by Tyler Andrews

Cheryl Coward, playca.com

Contributor: Cheryl Coward

Cheryl is a contributor for PlayCA with a background in sports journalism. She started her career as a news reporter in Washington, DC. She’s a die-hard women’s basketball fanatic and founded the website Hoopfeed.com as a result of that passion. She has extensive experience covering gambling and sports betting in California, including coverage of the Prop 26 vs. Prop 27 election battle.

Read stories written by Cheryl Coward

 

Dan Holmes, playca.com

Contributor: Dan Holmes

Dan Holmes is a contributor for PlayCA who may know more about baseball than anyone at Catena Media. He has written three books about sports and had career stops at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball. He reported thoroughly on Prop 26 vs. Prop 27 in California back in November for Catena Media.

Read stories written by Dan Holmes

 

Contributor: Hill Kerby

Hill is a proponent of safe, legal betting, and is grateful to be able to contribute to growing the industry. He has a background in poker, sports, and psychology, all of which he incorporates into his writing.

Read stories written by Hill Kerby

 

Adam Hensley

Contributor: Adam Hensley

Adam Hensley is a journalist with experience covering online sports betting and gambling across Catena Media. His byline has appeared in the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and sites within the USA Today Network.

Former Managing Editor: Steve Schult

Steve Schult served as managing editor for PlayCA. The New York native spent a decade covering high-stakes poker tournaments for some of the game’s biggest outlets before joining Catena Media at the start of 2022. Since then, Schult has covered several regional gambling markets including Florida, California, Ohio and Kentucky.

Learn more about Steve Schult

 

Matthew Bain, playca.com

Former News Content Manager: Matthew Bain

Matthew Bain served as News Content Manager at Catena Media, overseeing news content for the network’s highest-priority regional sites, including PlayCA. The San Diego native and Iowa resident is an award-winning writer and spent six years as a sports reporter and deputy sports editor for the Des Moines Register. During his time at one of Iowa’s biggest newspapers, Bain won nine awards for his work.

Learn more about Matthew Bain

Former Contributor: C.J. Pierre

C.J. Pierre has been covering news and sports for over a decade in both online and television mediums. The Minneapolis native received his bachelor’s from Minnesota State University Moorhead and has been in media ever since. Prior to diving into the gambling industry, Pierre covered the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Vikings and North Dakota State football as both a reporter and videographer.

Read stories written by C.J. Pierre

 

Our process

Our editorial process is such that even though much of what appears at PlayCA might feature a single byline, nearly everything you read on the site has received input from multiple staff members.

The process begins with the editorial team collaborating to decide which stories to report on or what information to provide. From there, our writers routinely seek to support their articles with information from primary sources. They consult original legal documents, speak directly to lawmakers or gambling officials, and otherwise pursue firsthand, reliable information to share in their reporting. By these means, we seek to maintain high journalistic standards and avoid reporting questionable information and/or dubiously sourced gossip.

Every news article, review and informational page that appears on PlayCA then undergoes a thorough review process before being published on the site. Usually, multiple readers provide feedback during the revision process, with PlayCA’s managing editor, Steve Scult, reviewing each piece for accuracy and tone. Each article and page additionally receives careful proofreading for surface-level issues like spelling and grammar before we post it.

If you encounter any reporting or information here at PlayCA that you believe to be erroneous, don’t hesitate to let us know. We strive to present an objective, trustworthy record of California gambling, and we want to make corrections whenever necessary.

Want to join PlayCA?

We here at PlayCA are always keeping an eye out to add new talent and expand our team of experts reporting on California gambling. Whether you are in California and have special insight and experience with CA gambling or you reside elsewhere and have similar expertise in other areas of the US, there could be opportunities at Catena Media for you.

If you are interested in joining our team, drop us a line. You can also visit our careers page to find out more about our current needs at Catena Media.

How to get in touch with us

PlayCA writers and our editorial staff are available to share their knowledge about legislation, sports betting, tribal casinos and card rooms, and anything else concerning legal gambling in California. For media inquiries, contact our communications team. For all other queries, you can email us here.

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