The ace remains: Chase the Ace in the Goulds lives to see another draw

The ace remains in the deck in the record-breaking Chase the Ace race in the Goulds.

George Chaulk, who lives in the St. John's neighbourhood, had the winning ticket to draw a card from the 11 remaining in the deck.

"I kept going through the numbers, I knew I had it," he said.

But he drew the nine of spades.

The ticket was bought by his Chase the Ace office pool at Hebron. There are 11 people in the pool, including his wife, Christa, and they've been playing since the lottery began 42 weeks ago.

She came up to the stage with him for the draw and was fanning herself as he reached for the card he wanted.

Thepeople in their office pool will be splitting the $185,014 consolation prize.

"I've got 11 people they're all going to be calling me here right away," he said. He and his wife count as one person in the pool, and they think they'll use their cut to take their five children on vacation.

If he had drawn the ace, he would have brought back a cheque for both the consolation prize and the $1.4 million jackpot.

50/50 for quarter of a million

The 50/50 jackpot rang in at $247,513. Alice Collins, who'sretired,took home that cheque.

"I have family I'll share it with," she said.

There was a one in nearly three million chance of someone winning the entire $1.58 million Chase the Ace haul tonight.

Early line-ups

People arrived early to buy their tickets this morning, even in spite of the rain. Lineups, as usual, twisted out the parish doors and down the sidewalk and the street.

People brought umbrellas, rain gear, chairs and books. But some had the weather completely beat.

Over the course of the day, eight RVs gathered in the parish lot and several more parked in lots nearby.

Bacon and eggs for breakfast, steak for dinner

Their inhabitants could purchase their tickets and then hang out in the air conditioned comfort of their home on wheels, watching television and cooking meals in their fully equipped kitchen.

"There's no crowd, I'm not crowded, there's nobody in here," said Rene Porter, who had her RV in the St. Kevin's parking lot. "I've got my own bathroom, I can cook my own meals, and watch everybody go by."

She cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and steak for supper.

"We've been chasing for a few weeks, but this is the first time we've taken the camper with us."

Thinner crowds

Even though there was a good turnout for the morning lineup and RVs in the parking lot, the crowds were a lot thinner in the afternoon. So thin, people had to barely wait at all to purchase tickets.

Ticket sellers in the hall told CBC reporter Zach Goudie they felt that they were selling just as many tickets as last week even though there weren't as many people crowding the lineup.

The consolation prize, which is 20 per cent of the night's ticket sales confirm this: it went up by $13,000. The 50/50 jackpot also increased by $21,000 from last week.

The Chaulks will be back

Perhaps the ace chasers in the region are joining more pools, like tonight's consolation prize winners at Hebron.

Chaulk says his office pool isn't done with the lottery they'll be at it again next week, hoping to flip over an ace of spades.

"I'll be offshore," he said. "But [Christa] will be here."