Before taking up poker full-time, he attended the University of Washington where he majored in computer science.
He has played regularly with many WSOP champions including Johnny Moss, Berry Johnston, Tom McEvoy, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth.
[citation needed] The forewords to Cooke and Bond's books have been written by major poker figures David Sklansky, Mike Caro, Linda Johnson, Mike Sexton, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson and Phil Gordon.
While at Planet Poker, Cooke designed most of the protocols which are the foundation of the industry standard for protection against collusion.
Cooke has been a private consultant to a number of Internet poker sites and a featured speaker on marketing and anti-collusion protocols for poker sites at industry trade shows sponsored by River City Group, including the Global International Gaming Expo in Montreal (2005–2006).