'Everybody wins here': Chase the Ace winner picks up record $230K pot in Whitemouth, Man.

A usually quiet community east of Winnipeg was buzzing with activity Saturday as it came down to the last card and a nerve-racking draw for the biggest Chase the Ace giveaway in its history. 

Hundreds lined up bright and early outside the Whitemouth Community Club, located in the town of around 1,500 people, about 85 kilometres east of Winnipeg, each hoping they purchased the winning ticket. 

That person was Canduce Tokash of Winnipeg Beach, Man. Little did she know, the ticket she bought earlier in the day would make her $230,366 richer by nightfall.

"I can't believe it. I'm just beyond excited," the 50-year-old mother of two told CBC News when reached by phone Saturday night.

Tokash said she and her friend Barbie Hudson were determined to take the pot. She had pre-arranged for her children to stay with their father for the day so the pair could make the drive first thing Saturday.

Eyes on the prize

The companions parked outside the Whitemouth Community Club at about 9 a.m. They nestled up in blankets to protect themselves from the cold, windy weather outside the town's community hall.

By that time, they were already No. 28 and 29 in line, she said. 

Chase the Ace resembles a standard 50-50 lottery: players purchase tickets for a weekly draw. The lucky ticket-holder is then invited to draw one of 52 cards, and if they draw the ace of spades they take home the pot.

If they don't pull the ace, the prize is held over until the next week when another draw takes place. The process continues until someone draws the ace of spades. 

Tokash, a self-employed house cleaner who enjoys doing martial arts on the side, said the most she had previously won was $1,000 at Bingo on the day before Valentine's Day when she was a teen.

Back then, she used her winnings to pay for her graduation, she said. 

This was another ideal time for her to win big.

"My Energizer battery is running low. This just gave me the boost that I need," Tokash said. She plans to spend some of her prize money on a new gas furnace.

"In some ways, I still can't believe it," she said.

The community club live streamed the draw on its Facebook page on Saturday.

"It's just whoever's number is picked. The cheque's already made out — all we've gotta do is put a name on it," said Peter Fedorowich, owner of the Whitemouth Hotel.

He started hosting Chase the Ace at the hotel four years ago as a way to get more people in the door on Saturdays.

"From there, it was one thing after another, and here we are," he said. 

Biggest giveaway

This week's pot was the biggest the community has ever collected for the giveaway.

"I can't even fathom. It's beyond my wildest dreams," Fedorowich said.

He said his bar and restaurant fill up every Saturday. So does the neighbouring restaurant down the street.

Even the hardware store filled up, he said. 

"You see faces that you've never seen before, and then you see faces that you see almost every week," he said, adding that people would travel from as far as Kenora, Selkirk, the Pine Falls area and beyond for the game.

"None of this is possible without all the volunteers," Fedorowich said.

A quarter of funds raised on Saturday, about $25,000, will go to the community club.

It has already built a new ice plant, upgraded the lighting around the community club with LED lights, and some other odds and ends with previous earnings.

"Everybody wins here," he said.