NL

Goulds Chase the Ace jackpot shy of $1M as draw looms

This week's Chase the Ace jackpot in the Goulds has reached $962,995.

It's all systems go after duplicate ticket controversy postponed last week's draw

Service NL, the government department that regulates lotteries in the province, said 17 tickets were affected by last week's error which caused one number to appear on several tickets. (Zach Goudie/CBC)

This week's Chase the Ace jackpot in the Goulds has reached $962,995.

Just 12 cards remain in the deck at the St. Kevin's Parish fundraiser in the St. John's neighbourhood of the Goulds.

Organizers say the 50/50 payout is $226,612 and the consolation prize, if the ace isn't chosen, is $172,368.

The draw was postponed last Wednesday after it was discovered that multiple players had duplicate tickets. 

Auditors with Service NL identified four people who held a combined 17 tickets containing the same number.

No new tickets will be sold for the upcoming draw, but replacement tickets have been provided to anyone holding ticket number 1378754.

Service NL said it was confident that only one number was duplicated by the error, and that "there was no information to suggest any intentional wrongdoing or fraudulent activity."