The first ever Chase the Ace kicked off in Williams Lake at the Overlander Pub Wednesday evening all to help out the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre (CDC).
Operations Manager, Vanessa Riplinger says they had a fairly good turnout.
“Ticket sales started at 5 and they ended at 7. Our draw was at 7:15. Our lucky winner won $64 by drawing the four of hearts. There’s a progressive pot and the progressive pot is at $94 to bring forward to next week and it’s going to keep growing.”
Chase the Ace works with 20% of the sales awarded to the weekly ticket winner and 30% going to the prize pool until the Ace of Spades is drawn.
The remaining 50% will go to the CDC to support their autism programs and services which has been seeing a steady increase in use.
“Right off hand, I think last year there were 9 individuals using the autism centre,” says Peter Bowman with the CDC Board of Directors. “I believe now we’re up to around 57.”
Winners of as much as $2 million dollars have been reported in Atlantic Canada where Chase the Ace has been gaining popularity since 2013.