Luigi is correct. I found out from this site that the poker machines are in fact of the "random" variety. I will never play them again.

If I go back it will only be for the horses. I never even knew that "random poker machines" existed. With that said I hit for $1,000 there.

I returned from day trip on Thursday, 30 July 2009 and it appears I will NOT return. It is easy to enter and exit but I met with a lot of traffic. Be that as it may, I only play video poker and there were not a sufficient quantity.

They may advertise 5,500 machines but perhaps 80% are slots. I agree with Ed, noisy, crammed and crowded. I also hate the fact that there are no free drinks, like AC. I was curious about the poker machines with a tag attached stating "IGT".

I asked a slot attendant and could not get a straight answer as to, "Are these poker machines operated via a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR or by a central computer in Albany".

I do agree with Ed that the Jacks/Better are Full Pay, 9/6 and the Deuces Wild have payback of 99.42% which is very good, however, if they are VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS then it is all moot.

I have read in various casino books that playing VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS is like playing a lottery scratch off. On some of the poker machines a GENIE would appear and change the five card layout; never saw this before and this leads me to believe they are VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS and not true poker machines such as AC.

I have been to Empire City since they opened their doors. It was so much fun and once in a while hit for a decent sum of money. I am a big spender on slots. Now when you go to Empire City you can dump $400 into machine and get nothing back which is ridiculous.

Every time there is a promotion, during those hours nothing comes out of the machines. Waitress service is terriible now unless you are near the stage. Cups and plates and other garbage left next to machines for hours, glass on the machines are filthy.

Just because a casino is bringing in the bacon now that it is established do not think the big spenders do not notice. They are taking their cash back to the casinos which are a bit further away, but where you can hold on to your money longer and take part in great promotions.

I hope you set those machines back to a nice payout once in a while and clean up the areas where food and cigarettes are left all over the ground.

Poor payout at slots. Be prepared to LOSE all in most cases.

Beverage department floor servers take your money for drinks and never return with your drinks or money which, in effect, is THEFT!! I have had to enlist their managers' help 3X; most of the servers LACK CUSTOMER SERVICE ability, and they igore their managers or are simply UNTRAINED.

Atlantic City casinos are a little farther away but well worth the drive and are true casinos with great service--compared to Empire City.

I have been to the casino at Empire City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway and I can tell you honestly it's a great casino. The gaming machines are fantastic and fun to play.

The International Food Court is fantastic and excellent, the facility is fantastic and it's easy to walk around with 5,500 gaming machines. Great bars, the people, the gaming machine attendants, the atmosphere of Empire City Gaming at Yonkers are all cool. I have been to the casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada and the casinos in Atlantic City and Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut I did not like them. Empire City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway is a Gem and well worth going I go one day a week and I love it.

I recently went to Empire for the second time. My first trip was rather bad. This one was surprisingly better.

While we were forced to park pretty far away, the shuttle came by every 7 or 8 minutes. I know this because we actually sat in the car for about a half hour talking and timing them. There were two buses covering the roughly one mile circuit.
Facility is smoke free and not at all cramped. There is a central bar area that featured a very good Motown cover band.There were numereous ticket redemption machines throughout the facility. A very wide assortment of games, mostly ones I haven't seen in AC or Vegas. They did seem a bit tight.
Within a few weeks, I got a few offers from their players club. nothing great-$6 food comp, $10 in free play sort of thing.
Its a pale imitation of a real AC/Vegas casino but I had an enjoyable night, even with a small loss.

This place is a money whore, it will keep taking it if you're stupid enough to keep feeding. I spent 200 dollars on a dollar slot machine and less than a mintue all of it gone with not even a pay back.

I go to the casinos to have a good time. It's not worth my time to even park in that place. Players be AWARE. Oh yeah, the buffet is a joke. I couldn't fathom the thought of paying 21 dollars for a 4-5 item buffet. Drinks are extra.

It is a facility just getting its feet under it and there is opportunity for expansion and growth. There are no table games or amenities, but there is a good food court and restaurants to dine in. The player's club offers points that could be used towards gaming credits or food but I did not do enough gaming to gain any credits during my visit.

I enjoy that I don't smell like smoke after leaving the facility due to it being smoke free. The only problem with the gaming is that they have video poker machines that look like the skill based machines but I know after research that they are set at the house advantage of 10% or 90% payback for players.

It is a nice facility for a day trip but I am only going to Atlantic City or Las Vegas for the real video poker machines and table games.

I know for certain that the video poker machines are not true poker machines as those in Atlantic City.

These are VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS which are controlled by a central computer in Albany. True video poker machines operate by using a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR with its own computer chip in the machine.

VLT'S are like scratch off lottery tickets; only so many winners are programmed. STAY AWAY.