Writer
Cole joined the gambling industry in 2013, the summer between junior and senior year of college. After getting his degree, he jumped right back in, working in various marketing and communications positions at Scientific Games. In 2020, he went freelance.
Cole has written for dozens of publications, including a five-year stint with iGaming Business and its related publications, where he wrote features and interviews. He also has extensive experience writing for sites like Play Pennsylvania with a specialization in player-first reviews and guides.
Cole’s awards shelf is tragically empty, and he welcomes any awards you wish to grant him. His claim to fame is an appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s revival of Password, where he won $16,000 and performed his now-world-famous “Dragon Dance” on national TV. His next goals? Survivor and Jeopardy!
Cole is a part time stay-at-home dad, so he spends a lot of time taking his daughter to local bookshops and cafes. When he’s not working, you’ll find him on the pickleball court, performing Americana tunes at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, or buried beneath a blanket with his nose in a book.
Cole Rush lives in Chicago and is known to absolutely nobody except the voice in his own head as “Fast Fingers Rush” thanks to his explosive speed at the keyboard. He brings more than 10 years of gambling industry experience to PlayPA. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Cole worked for 6 years at Scientific Games in Corporate Communications and Marketing. In 2020, Cole took the freelance leap and never looked back. Since then, he has written for dozens of publications, including Pennsylvania-focused news and review sites. He brings a player’s perspective to his work, testing platforms firsthand and bringing those insights to his reviews and articles. When he isn’t writing, Cole is most likely playing pickleball, reading, or creating crosswords for his newsletter, The New Dork Times.
Catena Media
Freelance Writer
2020-present
iGaming Business/Global Gaming Business
Feature Writer
2020-2025
Scientific Games
Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager
2014-2020
University of Iowa
Bachelor’s in Creative Writing
2014
● Global Gaming Business, “AI and Problem Gambling”
● Global Gaming Business, “In Need of Data Centers? LuxConnect Invites Operators to Luxembourg”
● Global Gaming Business, “Ethical AI—A Timely Issue With No Clear Guidance (Yet)”
● Bonus.com, “What Happens When You Ask ChatGPT If You Have A Gambling Problem?”
● This Song Changed My Life: “Ben Rector’s ‘Love Like This’ Changed My Life”
● Bracketology, “The Best New Reality TV Shows in 2025”
● Reactor Mag, “Story For Story’s Sake: Wanderstop and SFF Books That Reward Reflection”
● Crossword Puzzles, The New Dork Times
● Book Reviews and Lists, The Quill To Live
DAAAAA BEARS!
“I Try” by Macy Gray
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
I need that (hot) dog in me!
Cole boasts no major awards, which he deems “a travesty.” However, he once appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s reboot of the game show Password, where he proved his longtime haters wrong. Words do matter, folks!
Thanksgiving 2013. I asked my cousin-in-law (a recruiter at the time) if he knew of any summer internships, and he put me in touch with WMS (soon to be Scientific Games). I snagged the internship and never left. Funny how that works.
The increased availability of responsible gambling tools like Kindbridge. Players need these support resources, and it’s on the operators to make them widely available.
“TANK!” by SEATBELTS. I need some jazz flair and whimsy in my walk-up!
Find me at the Mississippi Stud table. Sure, I’ll be folding half my hands right off the deal, but I’ve got unlimited chips! Game over, folks!
I once won $500 on a $5 scratch-off ticket. Don’t ask me whether I used it to buy more scratch-offs, please.
