麻豆视频

Is there a simpler fundraiser out there, with a bigger potential windfall, for non-profit organizations than Chase the Ace?

You sell people a ticket. A ticket is drawn. The winner pulls a card from a deck. If the ace of spades is pulled, that person takes home the jackpot. If it鈥檚 not, the jackpot carries over to the next gathering.

Repeat this procedure each time until the ace of spades is drawn. You celebrate if someone pulls the elusive ace, but deep down, you鈥檙e hoping that the pot carries over until there are only a few cards left in the deck, because that鈥檚 when things get really interesting.

The good folks at the Royal Canadian Legion鈥檚 Bienfait branch found this out. Their game of Chase the Ace reached the final few cards, until finally the ace of spades was drawn on Saturday night. The winner, and the legion, each pocketed about $45,000.

It really was a win-win situation.

Various organizations have used Chase the Ace as a fundraiser as well. It makes for a nice internal fundraiser at the club level. The jackpot doesn鈥檛 reach enormous amounts, but there is pretty good money to be won if the draw reaches the final few cards.

Sometimes the ace will be drawn early, within the first few weeks. While the odds of pulling the ace of spades in a full deck are one in 52, the odds of pulling the ace are the same as pulling a three of diamonds or a jack of clubs.

You just don鈥檛 want to pull the ace of clubs. When you see that black ace, you can鈥檛 help but think you鈥檙e a winner. Then you see the club instead of the spade, and you realize why it鈥檚 the heartbreaker.

And yes, I have pulled the ace of spades in a game of Chase the Ace. It happened back in 2010. The next few moments were a blur. I just remember the elation, the excitement and other people clapping. I don鈥檛 remember jumping out of my chair and celebrating like Joe Carter after Carter hit the game-winning home run in the 1993 World Series, but it could have happened.

It was fairly late in the deck; there were about 20 cards left. And I pocketed about $600, which made me very happy.

Now, the common sense move would have been to put it in the bank, or set it aside and use the money to pay for my trip to B.C. during the Christmas holidays.

But that wouldn鈥檛 be fun.

Just over a week later, I was at the Assiniboia Downs thoroughbred racing track in Winnipeg, trying to keep my hot streak going.

It didn鈥檛 happen, although if you calculate the amount of money I won through Chase the Ace, it was still higher than the amount of money I spent on travel, accommodations, food, drinks and betting on the ponies. (I did lose money at the track that weekend, a rarity for me, but the track wasn鈥檛 my biggest expense).

So it wasn鈥檛 a bad weekend, and it wasn鈥檛 a bad use of my Chase the Ace winnings.

Imagine what I could do if I had won the $45,000 jackpot in Bienfait. I could finally scratch the Kentucky Derby off of my sports bucket list.

Pay off bills? Stash the money in the bank? Who said that?

Organizations are always looking for ways to raise funds for the good work they do in the community. And if they can do it in a fashion that doesn鈥檛 require a lot of work, that鈥檚 a bonus.

Yes, there鈥檚 a time commitment to be there every Saturday and serve all of the people who show up. But it鈥檚 more manageable than an auction, or a banquet, or some of the other fundraisers in the community that require a lot of time.

So count me a fan of Chase the Ace. And if you ever get down to the last card, please call us. We鈥檇 love to do a story on it.

And in advance, I ask for your forgiveness. After all, I鈥檒l be sitting there, with my fingers crossed, hoping that my ticket is the one that is pulled, and that I鈥檒l be celebrating a big win in Chase the Ace.聽