There’s still no grand prize winner following the week 43 Catch the Ace draw at the Hagersville, Ont. Lions Club.
The not-for-profit fundraiser’s top prize ballooned to just over $1.49 million, a new record for the game as another week passes without seeing the ace of spades.
Just under 111,000 tickets were sold prior to the Thursday night draw, equating to about $738,000, also a new record.
The weekly winner picked up just under $148,000.
The latest version of the fundraiser, under OLG licence, started out with a deck of cards put into envelopes, rolled in a drum, and then numbered one to 252.
Each week, participants in the progressive raffle buy tickets for a draw promising at least one automatic winner, collecting 20 per cent of sales.
That victor then gets a shot at picking a numbered envelope that could equate to a progressive jackpot that’s been built up each week with 30 per cent of ticket sales.
If the envelope contains the ace of spades, they win the jackpot.
The Hagersville Lions Club and the Hagersville Rocks committee of the Hagersville Chamber of Commerce get 50 per cent of the money coming for the fundraiser.
The Lions club has been putting their cash into a few local food banks, while Rocks is giving its half to the West Haldimand Hospital and Healthcare Foundation.