If the house always wins, why not join the house? That’s what Mylan and Romi Miyamoto did, paying their way through college by dealing at area casinos. Three years ago, the husband and wife opened their own vocational school, the Seattle Gaming Academy, to train others in casino dealing. “You can make pretty good money with no education and no experience—$50,000 to $60,000 [a year] right away,” says Mylan. For a thousand-buck tuition, students get an average of eight weeks of instruction in accuracy, speed, cheater-spotting, and card pitching—”no wrist, just finger.” Other lessons focus on cultivating a good table-side personality with, for instance, endearing banter such as “How’s your wife?” and “Haven’t seen you in a while.” While there are roughly a dozen other gaming schools in the Puget Sound area, few instructors are as devoted as the Miyamotos, who have used their casino connections to get all but one of their graduated students hired. (The unemployable student didn’t speak English very well.) In fact, Mylan still deals Texas Hold ‘Em at Tukwila’s Silver Dollar Casino: “It’s such easy money I’ve yet to give it up,” she says.—John Metcalfe 115 N. 85th St., No. 208, 781-8700, www.seattlegamingacademy.com.