This casino is a highway robbery. Don't bother to go there, it will take everything you have got and the services are terrible. I lost $2,000 in one night and in two hours playing a machine that is max bet $2.50. I have always walked away a loser and I will not return. I guess I went there because it is close to me but the drive elsewhere is better than this place. Be advised, yonkers is not a good place to try your luck!!!!

Yonkers Raceway is only 30 minutes from my house so it's a lot closer than Atlantic City. I lose whenever I play. It's not full of senior citizens. A lot of young people, 18 years old. I find the slots tight. I won only one time $4,500 with numerous losses. I enjoy watching the trotters at the restaurant overlooking the track. I ordered everything on the menu for 3 people and the bill was only $135. Try that at the white tablecloth restaurant in AC. Your bill will be $400. Unfortunately, this place will never get any rewards for service. "We are all out of bread" can be heard by the waiters.

Some one has finally agreed that the VP is not real. No RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR in machine. All controlled by central computer in Albany. Larry is correct. The VP machines in Connecticut, Atlantic City and Pennsylvania operated via an RNG which is the type of machine one should only play. The machines in Yonkers and Monticello are VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS. STAY AWAY!

The poker games are not real. It doesn't matter what you hold. The winners and losers are pre-programmed.

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.

Excellent for horse players and simulcasting. Trackside dining room is decent if slightly overpriced. Buffet is a joke especially to anyone who has gone to ANY buffet in Vegas or AC. Food court is low end and does not compare favorably to any food court in any casino we have ever been in anywhere.

Casino closes at 2AM. Tough to exit by car if you hang out until closing time. Slots are fine and payouts seem better than in Pennsylvania. Video poker has better pay out tables than Pennsylvania casinos. Always noisy, crammed and crowded - Saturday nights are brutal.

No free alcohol. Service is erratic and servers have absolutely no personalities whatsoever. Restaurant servers are fine but virtually all "non-food staff" are cold and utterly disinterested in the customers. Good variety of slots, not great variety on video poker. No complaints whatever if you are playing the ponies. As a casino, its adequate if you live say within a 1/2 hour drive. The attraction is its convenient location to NYC and Westchester.

Interior of casino is visually mundane, machines are jammed together, small aisles, terrible pedestrian flow on the casino floor and hope you need not have to go to the bathroom because you may not get back to a machine. 5,300 machines and there are often lines to get at them - especially video poker.

It seems to us that the payouts at Yonkers on slots and poker are better than AC or Pennsylvania but we've never seen any published stats to back up our perceptions.

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.

I have been to casinos all around the country. This one is a waste of time.

Compared to Vegas, AC, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun it cannot compare.

Appears to be poor odds on the slots.
Cramped floor area as if they put too many slots in the area. The employees are not that friendly.

Very hard to cash out when you are done. Most redemption areas only have one or 2 windows open and the help is slowww.

It's the closest casino near the Northeast of New Jersey. If the traffic on the George Washington bridge is not bad I can get there in about 45 minutes.

There is a good variety of games, many that I have never seen in Atlantic City. I have had some luck there. You need to get a feel for the place and learn where the good machines are.

The parking is bad (a long walk) and you they have no self redemption machines for the tickets. Don't be there when they close at 2 A.M. You will have to stand in a long line to redeem your ticket.

Machines do not pay well at all. After spending $200 I got 1 point on member card.

Parking is the worst, long wait for bus pick up. You get nothing from Empire. Food is good, but you pay the price.

I have a choice, a little longer to get to but much better, I do not waste my money at Empire.