Chase the Ace in Sydney expected to draw thousands for chance at $1.9M jackpot

The Chase the Ace fundraiser in Sydney — with its estimated $1.9-million jackpot — is so popular, a New Brunswick man is making the trip this weekend with enough money to buy 4,000 tickets for hundreds of people in his village.

Ronald Leger, a cabinetmaker from Cap-Pelé, will make the five-hour trip on Saturday for the fourth time since the jackpot began climbing in the charity fundraiser for the Ashby Legion and the Horizon Achievement Centre.

The 54-year-old is coming with money from 200 people to buy 4,000 tickets.

Leger says the social hub of Cap-Pelé — which has a population of 2,256 according to the 2011 census — is Tim Hortons, where his neighbours and friends meet him to make arrangements for him to buy their tickets.

"I started at 580," he said. "People started to say, 'Ron's going,' and they said, 'I could go in?' And I said, 'Yeah.' They know me, and everybody trusts me."

Tickets buyers agree to share a percentage of any winnings with Leger.

Before the draw, Leger makes sure everything is on the up-and-up by writing the buyer's name on the back of his or her tickets, along with a number.

Players by the busload

Chase the Ace is something like a 50-50 draw. But instead of winning half the value of the ticket sales, the winning ticket holder receives a smaller cut of the take and a chance to draw the ace of spades from a deck of regular playing cards to win the jackpot.

Every Saturday, 40 per cent of the money raised goes to the organization behind the draw, 30 per cent to the weekly winner and 30 per cent funnelled into the big prize.

The jackpot builds until someone does draw the ace of spades.

Stephen Tobin, the organizer of Chase the Ace in Sydney, said the size of this jackpot means people are coming from all over the region to play.

"We've had busloads of people coming from Pictou County, Port Hawkesbury, Truro, Halifax, New Brunswick — and last week, even as far as Montreal," he said.

'If I don't pick the ace, I'm going back'

Tobin said the layout of Sydney is well-suited to handle the throngs of people lining up at multiple locations to buy tickets and watch the draw in a live stream online.

"I think it's been doing tremendous things for the city of Sydney," he said.

"The spinoff is just incredible. There's not a restaurateur, entrepreneur or local businessowner that wouldn't agree to the fact that this has been absolutely incredible for them."

Leger will be doing his part.

"The more you go, the better it is," he said. "The more tickets I buy, the better it is for me. 

"If I don't pick the ace, I'm going back. I'm going until the time the ace will come out."

There are seven cards left in the deck for Saturday's winner to choose from.