No gambling for MR CASINO
Former president of LA casino returns to set up casino college here, but focus won't be on how to gamble

February 26, 2008

YOU name it, he knows it - baccarat, roulette, poker and even Chinese dominoes.

Dr Alan Soh knows many casino games, but does not gamble.

But Dr Alan Soh, who started at the bottom of the casino ladder as a card dealer some 25 years back, is no gambler.

Said the 60-year-old, who is back in Singapore to set up his own casino college: 'I'm a professional. I don't gamble.'

He explained: 'If you win, people will say, 'Well, you're the expert, it's not fair.' And if you lose, they will laugh at you.'

Dr Soh has worked for about 10 years in the US, where he rose from his humble card-dealing days to become a pit manager, then operations manager and finally, the president of a Los Angeles casino.

More recently, he worked in Malaysia and taught at a casino college in Singapore.

He has a doctorate from Preston University in Wyoming, specialising in service marketing and casino management, and has worked in the hospitality industry for 25 years.

Last October, he set up his own casino college, AGMI International in Bukit Merah.

He and his team of veteran casino staff members have been teaching students about the rules of various casino games, as well as gaming etiquette and ethics, at his school.

It was accredited by CaseTrust late last year and it is believed to be the latest school offering casino-related courses here.

It has about 25 students and he hopes more will sign up in anticipation of the opening of the integrated resorts next year.

Dr Soh said he ended up in this industry by chance.

He left Singapore, where he grew up, for the US in his early 30s, he said.

Fresh from a divorce, he was 'a bit depressed'.

'I wanted to get out of Singapore.'

His first stop: Las Vegas.

He was taking a language course in a community college there.

'I had no intention to work in a casino. But I needed money for my studies,' he recalled.

It turned out to be his lucky break.

He started off as a runner. Soon, he was asked to be a dealer. Then, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked at the Bicycle Club Casino as a croupier. He was picked to become a management trainee.

He was then rapidly promoted to become an Asian Games Manager.

Then he was headhunted to manage a chain of eight hotels in China for a year, before returning to the gaming industry where he was a president of an LA casino.

Dr Soh, who did not want to say how much he was paid in his previous jobs, said: 'In my time, I've seen poor people come in and after gambling, they become rich.

'I've also seen rich people come in and leave the casino poor.'

He said: 'Money never comes easily. So don't be greedy.'

RULES AND ETHICS

He added: 'I don't teach people how to gamble. But I teach the international rules of the game and the ethics involved.'

As president of an LA casino, the Regency Card Club, in 1990, he said he had seen people betting US$200,000 ($281,000) to US$300,000 per hand.

'On a night, they could lose up to US$2 million to US$3 million.'

Many don't recoup their losses.

Said Dr Soh: 'I always tell my students that to work in a casino, you must have good character and integrity.

'It's a privilege as it means you have been screened by the police.'

One of his students, Daphne Teo, 19, called his classes 'practical and fun'.

Ms Teo, who has a diploma in casino management from another casino college, said: 'The classes here are more hands-on and the skills I learn, I'll always have with me.'