The University of Southern Mississippi's undergraduate casino management program so far is unique in the state, though other universities are beginning to follow suit.

Alcorn State University plans to offer an executive master of business administration in hospitality and gaming management in fall 2006. And Delta State University and Mississippi Valley State University also have expressed interest in offering similar classes.

But no state institutions teach the nuts and bolts of gaming - that's left to private schools that have been turning out dealers for years. And like just about every business associated with the Coast economy, these, too, have felt the repercussions of Hurricane Katrina.

Ricky Richard, owner of Gulfport's Crescent School of Bartending and Gambling, is working from the chain's Las Vegas campus since the hurricane destroyed its Mississippi counterpart.

"Along with the rest of the casino industry, we were doing well before the storm, but obviously we've hit the skids since then," said Richard, who added that more than 100 students were enrolled in card-dealing classes at Gulfport when Katrina arrived.

"But with land-based gambling coming, we're eager to get back to southern Mississippi."

In the meantime, Crescent plans to open a temporary location in Tunica to rival the Casino College of Mississippi, which, like Crescent, offers dealer accreditation in courses on games like blackjack, baccarat and craps.

Tunica has become a magnet for Coast dealers in search of jobs, said owner Vern Harvey. Other former Coast dealers have moved as far away as Texas and Oklahoma looking for work.

But this hasn't meant new business for Harvey. "All those guys are already trained," he said, adding that Tunica's casino job market has become tight with all the new arrivals.

Harvey doesn't see the situation lasting long, though.

"Once the casinos on the Coast open back up, half the dealers in Tunica are going to go back down there, and the ones here won't have anyone left to deal their cards," he said.