Chase the Ace fever has arrived again in Cape Breton.

With just two cards left, the jackpot in Margaree is expected to top a million dollars for its next draw.

Three years ago, Chase the Ace made it big in Inverness, just down the road.

“We're down to two cards,” says organizer Bernice Curley. “And it's looking like the estimated jackpot will be $1.2 million this week.”

Like most Chase the Ace draws, this one put on by the fire departments in Margaree Forks and North East Margaree started out simply.

But it grew and grew, thanks in part to a theme we have seen before: a large sense of community in a small place.

“The community has really embraced this whole fundraiser,” Curley said. “It's not just the fire departments. Everyone has kind of come together to help us out to pull it off.  And there's a lot of traffic coming through Margaree.”

The extra visitors have been good for business, though they haven’t had the huge crowds Inverness had because of rules implemented by the Nova Scotia government to keep draws like this from getting out of hand.

“There was only one highway into inverness, and one out,” says Margaree resident Adrian Coady. “In the end, it was pretty stressful on the community.”

That pressure has been removed, Coady said, because people don’t have to show up at the site.

“They're coming in from all over the place,” says Frank Cameron. “And I applaud the community spirit here - it's amazing.”

When Chase the Ace fever first hit in Inverness three years ago, many people had to drive through this community to get to the big draw. Now that Margaree Forks has a giant jackpot of its own, it's something organizers here admit they never thought they'd witness.

“Our last draw went to $72,000, and we thought that was big,” Curley said. “We thought we'd never see that again, so this is huge.”

Coady says it’s great for the local fire hall.

“We'll have a ton of money when they shut this thing down,” he said.

Since the ace wasn't picked Wednesday night, the next draw is next Wednesday, meaning a new millionaire will likely be crowned by the end of the month.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.