Manitoba man wins $207,000 in 'Chase the Ace' lottery

Mitchell Titterton won the $207,400 jackpot at the Chase the Ace event in The Pas Saturday night. (Source: Facebook/Royal Canadian Legion Branch 19)

A Manitoba man is more than $200,000 richer after winning a ‘Chase the Ace’ contest that went on for nearly a year in a small northern town.

Mitchell Titterton walked away with $207,400 after picking out an ace on Saturday night at the Royal Canadian Legion in The Pas.

Chase the Ace is a 50/50-style raffle that holds a draw about once per week. Tickets are sold on the day of the draw. Each week, one winner is chosen and they take home a portion of the day’s sales.

The game’s first winner then gets to select one card from a full deck of 52 cards. If they select the ace of spades, they'll also win a portion of the day’s sale. However, if they fail to catch that ace, that portion is added to a jackpot for the next draw. The losing card is also removed from the deck, leaving one fewer card for the next winner’s deck. A portion also goes to charity.

One game, in Sydney, N.S., lasted a year before a contestant walked away with a $2.9 million prize.

The raffle in The Pas had been going for 44 weeks and only had 10 cards left for the draw.

People began lining up to take part at 8 a.m. Saturday, with a crowd of 900 people filling out the town's arena where the draw was held Saturday night.

Linda Kuhl, with the legion, says the event has been great for the town’s spirits which has suffered from hundreds of layoffs after a mill shut down.

"It's been a great morale booster, but this is a great town. People are optimistic. We don’t have a defeated attitude yet. People are coming out, having a great time," she told CTV Winnipeg.