This YAHOO! story advises that the Philippines could soon be the first country to offer a degree course in blackjack and roulette if plans for a gambling academy are approved. "It is a baccalaureate degree, Bachelor of Science in Gaming Management, something like that, so we can professionalize it," Efraim Genuino, head of state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), told a local radio station. --- I wonder if when you go to Atlantic City - hit the big one, then management finds out you've got a PhD in gambling, and sends Guido and Rocko out to break your kneecaps!
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has for years offered its degrees in Hotel Management that contain a significant gaming-related component. It is not a separate major, but then much of legalized gaming is done in conjunction with the hotel industry. The spelling is "Rocco," and the reference is an unfortunate abuse of a stereotype. Given the diverse nature of organized crime in the U.S., slurring just about any ethnic group would have sufficed.
Haven't degrees in gambling been offered by numerous schools for some time now? Trinity College & University University of San Moritz Northwestern International University American College of Metaphysical Theology Etc. Oops, my apologies! I was thinking of the gamble one takes to have such a degree listed on one's resume/CV.
When Marina and I visited the gaming research center at the University of Nevada, Reno, a few years ago (we were, and are, working on a book on lotteries), our host was a man whose title was "Harrah's Professor of Gaming." Even he seemed a bit embarrassed by this.