Gambling 101 classes getting popular

September 7

In New York, many students are able to spend a lot of time this summer at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, taking in some poker, roulette and live music. Not for pleasure, but for college credit.

The students are now able to enter the new school year at Morrisville State College in September as part of a growing movement. That movement will be college-educated blackjack dealers, casino security experts, restaurant and entertainment operators and gaming managers.

As states, mostly through Indian tribes, turn to casinos for gambling revenue, public colleges nationwide are increasingly offering courses and majors on casinos and gambling.

Over the past five years, gaming courses and majors have cropped up at colleges including San Diego State University, Michigan State University, Tulane University's University College in New Orleans, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. They join the pioneering University of Nevada at Las Vegas and Reno.

In New York's Catskill Mountains, Sullivan County Community College added a casino concentration in its club management degree. There are several proposed Indian casinos in the former Borscht Belt of upstate New York, though none has gotten final regulatory approval.

Courses at such schools include the study of gambling laws, operating on sovereign Indian land, and biometrics and facial recognition for casino security. Some students learn to be pit bosses, dealers and slot machine repairers.

Class laboratories take on new definitions in these courses that include green felt poker tables and red-and-black roulette wheels. Casino nights -- using play money -- are held on and off campus, often for charity. Field trips to Las Vegas, Atlantic City and the countless Indian-owned casinos in between are part of the course load.

The director of the six-year-old casino studies at the State University of New York's Morrisville State College, Peter LaMacchia, says that he has spent the better part of 25 years in the business and has always wanted to bring education to the gaming community. He remembers the time when he first started out, he says it was more about who you knew rather than what you know.

Morrisville is considering expanding casino-related studies, including a possible four-year degree in the entertainment and gaming electronics.

But not everyone wants to let this trend take hold it seems.

The effort sometimes faces religious opposition and Mississippi prohibits casino courses in public colleges, said Richard Marksbury, dean of Tulane University's University College, which offers an associate's degree in casino studies.

The National Council on Problem Gambling says that campus gambling isn't new: 4.5 million of the nation's 15.3 million college students will gamble on sports this year, it calculates.

At San Diego State, where the casino industry was basically begging for help, a professional certificate in gaming was offered this past spring to serve employers and boost college revenues.

The first course, which costs around $240, had 35 students this spring. The second course had 35 students as well, with a waiting list of 40, it is said.

San Diego County, in itself, is home to 16 Indian-owned casinos that attract approximately 40,000 players daily and employ around 12,000 people. A casino recently announced their plans to triple in size and add another 4,000 employees. At this rate, they are lining up to hire people.