The house doesn’t always win.
The owners of the highly profitable Aqueduct and Yonkers’ Empire City racinos are facing a no-win situation on Tuesday when New Yorkers head to the polls to vote on whether Albany should be allowed to open seven casinos across the Empire State.
If the referendum fails, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s team has signaled in recent months the governor would seek to open a racino at Belmont Racetrack, a source close to the Belmont Racetrack development said.
“If he does not get an upstate casino, then a racino comes to Belmont,” the source said.
Belmont is the only New York track without slots. And Cuomo, several sources with direct knowledge of the situation said, has the right to place a racino there.
A rival just over the city line in Nassau County would certainly siphon business — and profits — from Aqueduct.
On the other hand, if the referendum passes, Albany will issue a license to build a full casino that offers more than just slots that could be little more than 30 miles away.
That, too, will suck profits from the established and highly profitable racinos.
The actions of the companies this year reflect the bind they’re in.
After earlier in 2013 opposing the referendum, the owners last month started pushing for its passage.
Since October, Genting New York, which owns the Aqueduct racino, has contributed $750,000 and Yonkers Racing Corp. contributed $500,000 to the newly formed pro-casino referendum group, NY Jobs Now.
Cuomo’s promise not to build a downstate casino for at least seven years appears to have won them over.
An Aqueduct Resorts World spokesperson told The Post Friday, “We fully expect the referendum to pass because, like us, New Yorkers support the goals of creating jobs and generating revenue for education.”
Back in April, Genting quoted an analyst in a press release who said the Northeast casino market would be saturated if more casinos were built.
The Aqueduct racino throws off $25 million a month in winnings — and that’s after paying Albany and expenses. In Yonkers, the Empire City racino, owned by the Rooney family — who founded the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers — generates $14 million in monthly winnings.
For the six months ended Sept. 30, $8.6 billion was wagered at Aqueduct and $4 billion at Yonkers.
The house gets to keep between 5 percent and 7 percent of what’s wagered — splitting it almost evenly with the State education fund.
Genting and Cuomo have not always been allies, well-placed sources said.
Cuomo last year announced the Gentings were going to build an Aqueduct convention center. However, the talks broke down, embarrassing the governor.
The Rooney family are conservatives and not political allies of Cuomo, a source said.
Cuomo’s office and Empire City declined to comment.