If you are on this web page you should already realize that Empire City is not a "true" casino, but a pari-mutuel creation of the New York Lottery.
http://www.americancasinoguide.com/casinos-by-state/new-york-casinos.html

This pari-mutuel venue has no "live" games. Everything is electronic. The bulk of the casino is comprised of a few thousand slot machines on the building's first and second floors. In addition, there are a number of electronic gaming tables that have been added to part of the second floor of the casino. These games include roulette, craps, and -- the just added this month -- baccarat tables. It was the addition of the table games that caught my attention and intrigued me to check the place out. My comments are based on visits to Empire City in September and October of 2011.

CRAPS TABLE NOT AS ADVERTISED
I visited the Empire City website before I headed to the casino. On their craps' page, the casino had a very short explanation of game basics and a graphic of what their craps table looked like.
yonkersraceway.com/uploadedFiles/craps%20how%20to(1).pdf
On the graphic, the FIELD said the casino paid triple on 12, but I noticed that was not the case when I got to Empire City. The payout was only double. I e-mailed the casino to inquire about this, but never got a response from them. Instead, the casino quietly changed the graphic to reflect the correct payout. This may sound like a minor complaint, but this subtle difference doubles the casino's edge on this bet from 2.78% to 5.56%.

CRAPS MACHINE MALFUNCTION
The craps "table" is actually ten individual betting stations all facing a flat screen monitor. The monitor displays the "table". As at a live craps table, the privilege of (in this case electronically) tossing the dice passes around the table dependent on the shooter's ability to make his point.
On one occasion my betting station froze with the shooter trying to make his point. Not wanting to abandon the machine or my investment in it, I stayed at the machine. When nobody seemed to be coming to help, I actively tried to flag someone down for help. It took about twenty minutes to get an attendant who had the authorization to access the machine to help me.
Play went on while my machine was down. My bet was returned. Besides an inconvenience, this event was an annoyance. I had bet the DON'T COME BAR, and the shooter sevened out. My bet would have won.

CRAPS JACKPOT PROCEDURE
At one point while playing the DON'T PASS BAR with double (the max allowed) odds, my bet won and paid $600+. I won't do the math here, but it requires only a $75 bet on DON'T PASS with double odds to find yourself in this situation. With the point at 4 or 10 you are putting $375 at risk to win an additional $225. The machine stopped when I won, and announced I would have to wait for an attendant. This time it only took ten minutes for someone to help me, but I thought that too long.

The attendant printed me a receipt which I had to bring to a redemption window. (No machine in the casino pays out cash. All machines take cash, but only issue tickets which need to be redeemed.) It was annoying that I had to wait for an attendant while play continued. It was a further annoyance that I needed to leave the table and lose my spot, to redeem the receipt in order to be able to play again.

JACKPOTS
A jackpot is any payout of $600 or more paid on a single event (roll, spin, hand) no matter what the odds of the payout. A ticket is printed for you, which you have to bring to a redemption window and wait on line to cash. You must also show photo ID to cash the jackpot payout ticket, and provide Tax ID information. Receipts for roulette seem to be printed automatically. I didn't observe anyone with a jackpot payout in baccarat.

BACCARAT MACHINE BILL JAM
As I mentioned the Baccarat machines are new at the casino, so a few glitches might be expected. On two occasions my cash was not accepted by the machine. The machine took the bill but could not process it. The machine then informed me an attendant would need to be called. I got my bill back without a problem, but again it was not easy to flag down an attendant. A light does illuminate at the machine indicating a problem, but it doesn't appear that anyone pays much attention to it. I gather that there is no central monitor that informs the casino that someone needs help at one of the machines? From their slowness to respond, it certainly appears that way.

BEVERAGE SERVICE
There is waitress service, but it is sparse. Coffee and soda are free. Alcoholic beverages will cost you.
A plastic cup of Guinness ( ~12 ounces) cost $7.50. Other beer is less expensive. When I asked the waitress what brand the already poured brews she carried on her tray was, she told me "beer".

REWARDS
Empire City has a rewards program called Empire Club. One point is rewarded for each $10 bet at a table game. As near as I can figure, each point is worth about 0.5 cents. So to generate $5 in rewards, one would have to wager $10,000 at the tables. The Empire Club card can be used at the roulette and baccarat tables, but there is no provision to allow its use at the craps table. Rewards are doubled for the slots from what I wrote above.

I also found the card readers at both the game tables and promotion kiosks are not very good at recognizing Empire Club cards. It takes a few attempts to get them to acknowledge the card.

SUMMARY
With a profit of over $50 million per month, Empire City is clearly a successful venture.
nylottery.org/wps/wcm/connect/0c527d8044bea24d8b5f8b3b1ada7a32/empire_city_report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
I believe, though, it is only successful due to its easy accessibility to the over 10 million people in the New York City metro area. It is not someplace someone would drive a few hours to get to. Atlantic City and the Connecticut casinos are both but a few hours' drive from New York. Unless there is some promotion well worth my while, I do not plan to return to Empire City.

I can't rate anything at this casino because this is how bad everything is here. Now I know you can't win every time you go to gamble but once in awhile would be nice. The bonus on machines is a joke. I hit a bonus playing 10 dollars a spin, 15 free spins and won 40 dollars. How is that fair? Way too many payouts on machines that are really losses, for example if you bet a dollar you spin and the machine gives you 40 cents back. How is that considered a win? The machine is thinking you are betting a penny. Math is easy. even horse racing give you at least 10 cents profit at the worst for your 2 dollar bet. If I bet a dollar and the machine gives me back 50 cents then I lost 50 cents, not won 50 cents. Empire city is the worst casino I have ever been to. Pennsylvania casinos are so much better. These casinos know what customer satisfaction is all about. Empire casino needs to take lessons from these casinos. It is bad enough that you are probably going to lose when you go to empire city but to be treated bad by workers is sad. I drink coffee so you know my chances of getting service from the serving people is about none. If the person feels you aren't worth money then you might see them an hour or two later and you end up with excuses from them. This place is all about taking the average persons money with no regard for them. Their ATM machines even rob people by an outrageous charge. If a person is at the machine then why rob them because they are there getting more money to lose? to hear announcements advertising sign up to be a club member and get 5 dollars free is a joke. There really is nothing I can say that is good with this casino. It is sad watching people spend what they can't afford because they believe they will hit something. This casino is designed to only have one type of winner and that type is the casino itself. I know it is an easy place to get to for most people but people please stay away since this place will never allow you to win any type of money. I have been here a lot and I am just like everyone else. I say I won't be back but I go with hopes. If you are looking to win a thousand dollars here then that is like hitting a million dollars on a machine. It is almost impossible to win at this casino. They even charge you for a 6 ounce bottle of water. How greedy does this place have to be? The food is one of the worst around. No one has any customer training skills. Cashiers sit but they move in one gear, very slow. they have the gall to look for tips for doing their job. This place is a comedy and unless you want to donate your money stay away from this casino. NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THIS PLACE. I TRY TO FIND SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT IT BUT THERE JUST ISN'T ANYTHING GOOD. EVEN MANAGEMENT IS BAD. TRY BETTING THE HORSES AND YOU WILL LEARN HOW BAD THINGS ARE. THIS CASINO JUST DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE CUSTOMER. IT IS ALL ABOUT STEALING YOUR MONEY. SO IF YOU WANT TO BE ROBBED THEN DEFINITELY GO HERE.

The slots here stink and are a scam. Huge variety but they never or rarely pay out. 100 lions bonus games show diamonds galore in the free spins, which are wild cards, but the machines zoom through them so fast, they don't give a payout when they are supposed to. They are fixed! The clientele is scary looking! Many appear to be non-English speaking lower income clientele, very rough looking. Two guys were fighting over a machine, threatening each other and the security guard did nothing but observe. I got up and walked away from the vicinity. Also, recently during a gas odor scare, patrons refused to leave their machines for their own safety. Guards were understaffed. Thank god it turned out to be nothing. Customer Service? On one visit, a promotions booth by the back entrance closed and the attendant made some handicapped patrons walk all the way over to the booth at the other end of the casino just to get a replacement card; he was rude. They should have promotions booths/customer service stations closer together. Problem with your machine? You have to wait at least 20 minutes for a slot attendant to show up. Senior Citizen nights: these are a total joke. The 'free' items they give you are cheap and worthless and break or wear out in no time. For 3 weeks in a row, they gave out plastic shopping bags. The kiosks in the back lobby are always broken. You can be on line for a half hour. As soon as Seniors get off the bus, they head to those machines for their coupons, and the machines are either broken or slow. The ATM's charge close to $5.00 to get your own money out - ridiculous. The Food Court service is slow, the food inferior, the cleanliness leaves much to be desired. The buses from the parking lots to the entrances are too small and people are crammed in like sardines. Boycott this place people, boycott it. Just because you don't have to drive to NJ or CT for a casino is no reason to come here. Its a horrible place.

Almost anyone who has ever gambled knows the percentages are always in the casino's favor. I've been playing craps for almost 50 years and I can tell you there is no such thing as a winning system. It's all about money management and self
control. Limiting loses and taking advantage of hot streaks when they come is the best advice I can offer. For those that have visited Empire City and have played the Video Craps Machines, please listen to me, STAY AWAY! These machines are not
random number generator programs. These machines are cheating the unknowing public out of hundreds of millions of dollars a year. These machines will interact based of the amount of money bet. Sure the one and two dollar bets will get some action, but once a player starts betting a little higher the machine starts to grind you out. You have no chance of winning once you start betting higher amounts or start pressing any of your wins. I've seen rolls on these machines I haven't witnessed in 50 years playing at casinos! This is not gambling when you play these Video Craps Machines, this is the State of New York stealing your hard earned money. Please, it's so heart breaking to watch so many people sit down at these machines thinking they are honest random number machines and lose thousands and thousands of dollars day in day out. If you played poker and saw two aces of spades in the same hand of the guy who was winning all night and had everyone's money at the table, you'd want to kill the bastard, knowing he was cheating everyone. Well Empire City is that same guy, if your one of those knuckleheads that don't believe, be my guest!!!! You'll hear his name often if you bet big on the numbers, he's called SEVEN OUT! The sad part is the more you chase the more you'll hear his name over and over and over! SEVEN OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After going weekly for three months, I can accurately give a review of Empire City casino. First off, if you want to play slots, go elsewhere. For every dollar you gamble, you lose 50 cents on the dollar. Best payouts I have ever seen are roughly 100 dollars. Never seen 1k plus. I have played every penny machine averaging 30 to 50 cents a bet. If you are thinking electronic roulette, don't play the non airball version. The electronic roulette machines, craps, and baccarat are video lottery terminals just like the slots. You would believe the machines have real odds, but I can swear the machines increase house edge incremental to what is on the table. Also FYI max bet is for craps is not 500 on pass and dont pass but only 100 dollars. They have a food court on the first floor with pizza, grill, asian, and sandwiches. Food is 5 to 10 per entree, but get ready for some Montezumas revenge or mudbutt. Comps are 1 point for every 5 dollars of slot play and 10 on the electronic tables. To get premier membership, you need 35000 points a year. Hopefully some people read this and stay away, but with its close proximity to NYC and Westchester, a sucker is born every minute.