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Nation's academic institutions offer `gambling studies'

Many years ago, aware of the potential for the nation's gambling industry, Kaohsiung Hospitality College (KHC) began to offer its students a course in "gambling studies."

KHC then applied in 2002 for permission to convert its course into a department for gambling studies and were promised that they could do so as soon as gambling was legalized.

The department would focus on the study of commercial gaming to help students gain an in-depth understanding of a field that most Taiwanese have very little knowledge of.

Hsieh Wen-Chin (謝文欽), dean of academic affairs at the college, said the purpose of setting up this new department was to train future casino managers through a series of courses.

And not only that.

Hsieh, trained at Penn State University and a specialist in casino management and the psychology of gambling, said that the study of commercial gaming offered by the school will also teach students how to see through many of the deceitful tricks used in gambling.

"To manage a casino, you certainly have to understand all the rules and tricks used in the gambling industry," Hsieh said.

To find out more about how the underground casinos in Taiwan operate, Hsieh many years ago apprenticed himself to a local gambling master.

National Penghu University also plans to set up a similar department. But although some academics believe that schools should respond to industrial trends, some are also worried that the establishment of such departments could influence social attitudes.

In places such as the US and Macau -- where commercial gaming has long been legal -- casino management is becoming an increasingly popular subject among college students.

Last year, the first group of students graduated from the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming (ISCG) at the University of Macau.

Casinos in Macau recruited these young graduates immediately after graduation, as they had already acquired the technical know-how to work in the business. The base salary offered them was NT$60,000 (US$1,840) to NT$80,000 per month.
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