Salem's Chasers Poker Room Bought By Churchill Downs Inc.

SALEM, NH — Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has announced it has completed the purchase of Salem's Chasers Poker Room and will move forward with its plans to build an expanded gaming facility on the site.

The previously-announced transaction was dependent on approval from the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.

Specific terms of the purchase were not announced, though CDI said it expects the total investment in Salem, including the purchase price, to be approximately $150 million.

Chasers, located at 7 Memorial Pkwy, currently offers poker and a variety of table games, billing itself as New Hampshire's leading charitable gaming operator.

CDI said it plans to "construct an expanded charitable gaming facility" that features up to 800 gaming positions, including historical horse racing machines (HRMs) and table games.

HRMs, according to LasVegasAdvisor.com, look and operate like slot machines, though winners are determined based on previously run horse races.

"The machines are set up so you can choose to watch or replay the actual outcome, if that interests you. Or, you can tuck it away and focus on the reels, which simply animate an outcome that coincides with the results of your wager," according to KnowYourSlots.com.

KnowYourSlots.com continued: "Bonuses are therefore completely predetermined, as the outcome of the horse race was decided in the past, so the game is just providing slot machine-style entertainment."

When a bet is made on an HRM, a race is selected from a video library of nearly 100,000 races.

"Obviously, no identifying information, such as where and when the race was run and which horses and jockeys participated, is revealed," KnowYourSlots.com reported.

CDI said New Hampshire is expected to be the fourth state in which it operates HRMs. Machines already are located in Kentucky and Louisiana, while a deal to bring the games to Virginia is pending.

"We are excited to build upon the success of Chasers with CDI's proven excellence in historical horse racing operations and a state-of-the-art new facility," said Bill Carstanjen, chief executive officer of CDI. "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to meaningfully support nonprofits in New Hampshire as the leading gaming operator in charitable contributions."