INVERNESS, N.S. — The final totals are in for a game of Chase the Ace that recently drew thousands to a small Nova Scotia town and sparked a wave of similar lottery games across the region.
Committee spokesperson Cameron MacQuarrie says more than 3.5 million tickets were sold for the Chase the Ace fundraiser over its 48-week run in Cape Breton's Inverness.
MacQuarrie says more than $2.9 million was given out in prizes, while total revenue was roughly $5.89 million.
The net profit, roughly $2.5 million, was split between the local legion and the Inverness Cottage Workshop, which provides vocational, personal and social skills training for adults with intellectual disabilities.
About 1,500 people live in Inverness, but in the lottery's final weeks, that number swelled to about 10,000 as people travelled from across the Maritimes for their shot at winning the jackpot.
Donelda MacAskill, a retired Nova Scotia woman, won the $1.7 million grand prize in early October.
Chase the Ace is like a 50-50 draw in which players buy numbered tickets for five dollars each.
The person whose ticket is chosen in the weekly draw wins a cash prize, plus a chance to pick a card from the deck — and if that card turns out to be the ace of spades, they win the big jackpot. (CJFX)
