Panorama.am

17:43 22/04/06

Karine Martirosyan Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino
April 19, 2006 in Las Vegas

“Dealertainer” Sandra Daly (L) gets herself ready as singer Gwen
Stefani while Karine Martirosyan fixes her Marilyn Monroe wig as they
prepare to deal blackjack at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino
April 19, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Martirosyan, 37, immigrated
to the United States from Armenia in 2000 and became a U.S. citizen
in November 2005. In her home country, she worked in a hospital as
a doctor, specializing in infectious diseases, after graduating
from Yerevan State Medical University in the country”s capital.
Martirosyan said she decided to come to America after the breakup of
the Soviet Union and the resulting increased tensions with neighboring
Azerbaijan caused a downward turn in the Armenian economy. She obtained
a visa and moved to Las Vegas where she only knew one friend from
Armenia and a distant relative. Martirosyan, who speaks Armenian
and Russian, studied English for two years before starting to take
nursing classes at the Community College of Southern Nevada and the
University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In order to help pay for school, she
took gaming dealer classes, and now works at the casino impersonating
Monroe and singer Christina Aguilera. She said she earns a great deal
more working full time as a dealer in Las Vegas than as a doctor
in Armenia. Martirosyan is not sure what her future holds, as the
Imperial Palace was recently purchased by Harrah”s Entertainment, Inc.,
and is expected to be torn down and replaced. She is waiting for an
evaluation by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools
to see if her combined U.S. and Armenian college work qualifies her
to take Nevada”s nursing board test to become a registered nurse.