Inuvik woman wins nearly $300K in Yellowknife's Chase the Ace jackpot

Yellowknife's latest Chase the Ace competition is over, with nearly $300,000 won on the final jackpot.

Darlene Allen of Inuvik, N.W.T., pulled the winning ace of spades from the deck at the Monkey Tree Pub in Yellowknife on Friday.

For the past several weeks, people have been crowding local bars, paying $5 for a Chase the Ace ticket. Each week a winner is pulled in a classic 50-50 draw. Half the proceeds of the night went to the Yellowknife Fastball League, 25 per cent to that night's winner, and another 25 per cent to the rolling jackpot.

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The winner then had the chance to pick a random card from the deck, hoping to draw the ace of spades, winning the rolling jackpot.

The deck had been down to 10 cards. People began coming into Yellowknife from across the territory to play. Cars filled parking lots and lined the streets as tickets were sold at nearly every bar in town.

This is the second large Chase the Ace jackpot in the past six months in the Northwest Territories. In November, a Hay River man won nearly $500,000 at the competition in Hay River.

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The Yellowknife Fastball League is using the money to pay for improvements and renovations to Yellowknife's downtown Tommy Forrest Ball Park.

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