Man claims he won fixed prize at Empire City casino

With arrests looming in the district attorney?s probe into alleged shady dealings at the Empire City at Yonkers Raceway casino, a man who claims he won a rigged $1,500 giveaway agreed to speak with News

News 12 Staff

Sep 25, 2008, 11:31 PM

Updated 5,838 days ago

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With arrests looming in the district attorney?s probe into alleged shady dealings at the Empire City at Yonkers Raceway casino, a man who claims he won a rigged $1,500 giveaway agreed to speak with News 12 Westchester.
?There?s always a way to manipulate anything,? says the man, who would only identify himself as ?Robert.?
Robert says a promotions department employee at the casino, which is located within Yonkers Raceway, contacted him and ?asked if I wanted to make a few hundred dollars,? to which Robert agreed.
According to Robert, the scheme involved him entering the casino to play the slot machines. He says he then waited for his name to be called, signed a paper and collected his ill-gotten prize money.
Robert says the scheme was put into motion last winter, when an acquaintance from Yonkers contacted him with a sure-fire way to win cash at Empire City.
?I was offered $1,500,? he says. ? [I] just needed my name and what time I?d be there.?
Robert says gamblers put Empire City club cards in video slot machines to qualify for promotional giveaways. But instead of letting the computer pick the winners at random, Robert says rogue employees in the promotions department lined up friends and family in advance, fixed the outcome and then took a sizable cut of the winnings.
Robert says he ultimately made only $300 after the employees involved in the scheme took their cut and he paid a tax on the winnings. The night he won, there were additional giveaways that were allegedly fixed.
The general manager of the raceway says every promotion instituted over the two years the casino has been open is now being reviewed by the district attorney.
Ex-casino worker speaks out on alleged corruption Empire City gamblers say $350K promotion was fixed