Yet again, the $2.2 million jackpot wasn’t claimed in Newfoundland’s wildly popular Chase the Ace draw – but a winner is guaranteed to take home the grand prize next week at the 44th and final draw.
Julie Labour-Mitchell from Grand le Pierre, N.L. pulled the king of clubs Wednesday night from the remaining nine cards, netting her a consolation prize of $262,294.
If she had pulled the ace of spades, she would’ve taken home a whopping $2,211,411.
Asked what she planned to do with the winnings, Labour-Mitchell said she didn’t have anything particular in mind, but might fly her son home from British Columbia for a visit.
With the elusive winning card still in the deck, organizers plan to hold one final draw next Wednesday. Tickets will be drawn until someone chooses the ace of spades and takes home the total winnings.
If the first ticket-holder doesn’t pull the ace of spades, they’ll get the consolation prize – an amount that could reach $300,000. After that, consolation prizes will be lowered to $25,000 until someone gets lucky and a winner is named.
Organizers told NTV that Wednesday’s turnout was among the largest since the draw began last October, with some participants lining up more than 12 hours prior to 8:20 p.m. draw.
The decision was made to end the draw early due to concerns about “the safety of children returning to school in September,” Chase the Ace organizers said in a statement.
The Wednesday event has consistently drawn thousands to the Goulds, a community at the edge of St. John’s, since it started last October. Some locals have complained about traffic headaches for residents.
How the game works
The rules of Chase the Ace are simple. Participants buy tickets to be entered into a weekly draw. A single ticket is drawn each week, and the winner instantly gets 20 per cent of the pool. Fifty per cent of the funds go back to the parish, while the remaining 30 per cent is squirreled away into a growing jackpot.
On top of the initial winnings, the ticket holder gets the chance to pull one card from a standard 52-deck. If the ace of spades is drawn, they win the total jackpot.
If the card isn’t drawn, the shrinking deck is set aside for the next week -- thereby narrowing the odds.
