Empire City Casino welcomes Raquel Pomplun, Playboy Bonus Blackjack

Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New York is bustling today with a new bank of electronic table games from Bally. Raquel Pomplun, the 2013 Playboy Playmate of the Year will be inside the games forever, but only on the casino floor for a little while this afternoon. We’re talking about Bally’s Playboy Bonus Blackjack slots.

Guests of the casino can meet and greet Ms. Pomplun today beginning at 3:00 p.m. in the casino’s biggest electronic table game area near the valet entrance. Lucky fans can get autographs and photos with one of the stars of the game, and Playboy’s first Mexican-American Playmate of the Year. If you’re an Empire Club Member you’ll even get a free commemorative t-shirt. Look for 10x comps and other perks on all Bally electronic table games all day!

Raquel was gracious enough to give a few moments of her time to answer some questions for our readers. Below is a quick interview followed by some more background on the hybrid game that lets players place side bets for a slot-style progressive bonus or simply enjoy the game with five other players while four virtual dealers including Raquel herself keep the action moving.

Without further ado…

World Casino News (WCD): Hi Raquel, thank you for sharing some time with us before you are besieged by fans on the casino floor today.

Can you tell our readers a little bit about your engagement at the casino?

Raquel Pomplun (RP): Yes! I’ll be doing a meet and greet at the casino, signing autographs and taking pictures with all the attendees. 

WCD: With all of the mergers and acquisitions going on at top levels of the industry it can be hard to sort out who’s who in the gaming world. Most of our readers are aware that Bally acquired Shuffle Master in 2013 and the company was acquired by Scientific Games the next year.

Many may not know that Scientific Games companies have been making Playboy-branded gambling games for over 15 years. Some of the most popular games to date include Playboy Hot Zone, Playboy Platinum, and Playboy Down Under. I haven’t had a chance to play on the Playboy Bonus Blackjack tables yet. Are you one of the dealers featured in the game?

RP: Yes I am, along with three other fellow playmates.

WCD: I thought so. You’ve been helping to promote the game at casinos for some time now. While researching the article we see your ambassadorship going back to at least February 2016, when you and Playmate, Hiromi Oshima launched the virtual table game at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Palm Springs, California. Was that your first experience introducing Playboy-branded games?

RP: That was one of the first times. The first time, if I am not mistaken, was at the Las Vegas G2E Convention the previous fall. It was definitely an electrifying experience because it was then that I realized how big of a deal it was to be in this game! Very exciting to know I’m part of SciGames’ history in a way!

WCD: You seem to be very industrious and hard working. According to our research, you studied biochemistry at Southwestern College, you did the Playboy photo shoot even though you had a fever of 103, you took ballet lessons, and you were the first Mexican-American Playboy Playmate of the Year when you received the honor in 2013.