Cape Breton Island has been hit by Chase The Ace fever.
It began as a local fundraiser in the Village of Inverness, N.S., now the game Chase The Ace has built up island-wide excitement.
The game is similar to a 50/50 draw, but in this case the winning ticket holder takes just 20 per cent of the weekly pot, but also gets a chance to pull a card from a standard deck. The lucky person who selects the ace of spades will win the jackpot.
Fifty per cent of the proceeds from the game will go back to the legion and other community organizations.
The Inverness fundraiser began 44 weeks ago, and the lucky card has yet to be pulled.
As the weeks pass without the ace of spades being drawn, the excitement surrounding the game builds.
“We've never seen anything like this in Inverness in a very long time,” says Cameron MacQuarrie, vice-president of the Branch 132 Royal Canadian Legion.
Once proceeds from ticket sales are factored in, the real winning amount could top half a million dollars.
“It just keeps growing, and growing, and growing,” says Chase The Ace player Kevin MacKay.
As the jackpot continues to grow, so does the number of visitors coming to Inverness to participate in the draw each Saturday.
This past weekend more than 4,000 people clogged the streets of Inverness, hoping for a shot at the jackpot.
“What it does for the community is awesome. Every store is sold out,” says Chase The Ace player Jody Daigle.
Coffee shop manager Kelly Neil says business is up by about 25 per cent on Chase The Ace days.
“If all goes well, it could still be going till October. So that would be great to have it on every Saturday til then, but it would be nice to see someone from town win,” says Neil.
If the ace is not chosen until the last week, the expectation is that the jackpot could reach $1 million.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald
