Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING FEB 2019 40 a separate VIP room. On the day IAG visited, a “Casino Game Tournament” was being held with about 15 guests playing blackjack, baccarat, poker and roulette – all just for fun and educational purposes, of course. As an aside, IAG also joined in the fun. We tried throwing a roulette ball and found it to be quite difficult. Dealing cards was next to impossible. Not so for one of the dealers present at the time, a recent graduate of the school, who was handling the cards smoothly. He now works as an instructor at the school while moonlighting as a dealer at hotel events and parties. “My dream is to work at a casino overseas, then eventually come back to be a dealer in Japan,” he explained. The school already has well-established pipelines to IR operators in Macau, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore, where a number of graduates have been recruited to work at the iconic Marina Bay Sands. Director Maekawa says, “We aim to continue to strengthen our post-graduation support.” There are four courses students can choose from at the Osaka school. The most popular “Premium Course” consists of 58 classes, each 2.5 hours in duration. The quickest graduate so far completed their course in just three months, but on average it takes most students six months to complete. TuitionfeesforthiscourseareJPY1.3million(US$12,000), but this includes a post-graduation overseas “field trip” with a peek into the backyard of IR operators. Past classes have traveled to Macau, last year’s trip in February was to the Australian Gold Coast and this year’s trip is planned for Las Vegas in April. The management class also includes lessons in gambling addiction where students learn about various measures taken in other countries. As of now about 80 students have enrolled in Japan Casino Academy, Osaka campus, with 10 graduates. “Most of our students are men with normal, salaried jobs, but there are many working women and housewives enrolled in the school as a whole. There is also one high school student and one junior high school student in 7th grade,” states Maekawa. Thedemand for dealers inJapan is expected toultimately be in the thousands or even tens of thousands. The long- standing Japan Casino School, established in 2004, also opened an Osaka campus in April of last year. Applications are expected to continue increasing as time goes on. The school alreadyhaswell- established pipelines to IR operators in Macau, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore, where a number of graduates have been recruited to work at the iconic Marina Bay Sands. JAPAN