ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The much-watched Chase the Ace draw near St. John's will end with a flourish of drama next week.
The provincial government announced its "exit plan" for the draw, which has been taking place almost every week at a church hall in Goulds, N.L., on the outskirts of St. John's.
Yet another person failed to turn over the ace of spades Wednesday night, as the jackpot soared to more than $2 million.
The province says the lottery will be conducted as usual next week but if the ace isn't drawn, more ticket numbers will be called until the ace of spades pops up.
Organizers have said they didn't want the draw to interfere with school, which starts in early September in the building next door to St. Kevin's Parish hall.
Goulds has been inundated with crowds for Chase the Ace, buying numbered tickets for about $5 each.
The winner gets a percentage of total ticket sales and a bigger jackpot if they pull the ace of spades from a deck of cards that gets smaller with each draw.
Similar draws have been held across Atlantic Canada in recent years with varying success -- some lost money for their charities while others that lingered for months saw entire towns effectively shut down by the hoopla as jackpots grew.
On Wednesday night, Julie Labour-Mitchell of Grand le Pierre, N.L., drew the king of clubs, leaving eight cards in the deck for the next draw. Although she didn't win the jackpot of more than $2 million, she will get about $262,000 as a consolation prize.
Two other people won the 50/50 prize of $348,095.
In a press release on Thursday about next week, the government said winning tickets must be verified within 15 minutes of being drawn at one of four locations.
It explains how things will unfold:
"Upon verification of the first ticket drawn, the ticket holder shall have the opportunity to choose a card. If the ace of spades is selected, the winner shall receive the consolation prize and the escalating jackpot. The event then concludes.
"If the ace of spades is not selected the ticket holder shall receive the consolation prize, based on 20 per cent of the sales for August 30, 2017. The card drawn is defaced.
"Subsequent validated ticket holders shall have the opportunity to choose a card. Each subsequent validated ticket holder who does not select the ace of spades shall receive a $25,000 consolation prize."
