Empire City gamblers say $350K promotion was fixed

An investigation is under way into a computer system at the Empire City at Yonkers Raceway and allegations that a $350,000 giveaway was rigged. A two-month promotion called "Play off Your Mortgage? was

News 12 Staff

May 28, 2014, 6:55 PM

Updated 3,712 days ago

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An investigation is under way into a computer system at the Empire City at Yonkers Raceway and allegations that a $350,000 giveaway was rigged. A two-month promotion called "Play off Your Mortgage? was tied to the national housing crisis. When the slot machine computers malfunctioned and one woman won the top two prizes, other gamblers were outragedOn August 25, Bette Slutsky won $10,000. Just one hour later, Slutsky won the $250,000 grand prize. The two jackpots totaled all the money in the promotional giveaway. Now, there are serious questions about whether raceway workers fixed the game. After getting angry calls from other gamblers, News 12 discovered both raceway security and New York Lottery regulators are investigating the incident. "We are aware of the customer complaints and as it stands we are reviewing all of the issues," says Empire City Assistant General Manager Michael Taylor. Taylor admits employees involved in the promotion are being questioned. He added, ?If we uncover any sort of inappropriate activity we will deal with it very seriously and take the proper action."


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