CHIP FM’s first game of Chase the Ace ran for only three weeks before finding a pair of winners, Nicholas Boisvert and Chantal Gagnon of Fort Coulonge.

The mother-and-son duo, who together purchased a block of 80 tickets, flipped the ace on week three of the game, winning a total of $10,076, including $5,000 of CHIP’s own money the radio station put in to sweeten the pot.

In Chase the Ace, players buy tickets wagering on a weekly draw from a standard 52-card deck of cards. If the card they bet on is chosen, they get a weekly prize, worth 20 per cent of the week’s ticket sales.

The game continues until the ace of spades is turned up, at which point the winner gets the weekly prize, in addition to the progressive jackpot, which is 30 per cent of all ticket sales to date.
Boisvert, a diesel mechanic for Canada Pacific Kansas City, said he was suprised to hear he had won. “I went for lunch, and I heard, ‘you won!’ and that was pretty nice,” he said.

He doesn’t have any specific plans for his share of the money, which is just over $5,000.

“I’m gonna keep it safe, and buy stuff as I need, I guess.”

Half of the funds from the game are going toward station upgrades, and if the game raises enough money, some will go out to community organizations.

“We’ll give to the non-profits,” adminstrative assistant Nat Denault said, adding that organizations who wish to benefit from a donation can apply on CHIP’s website.

“They’ll have to have [ . . . ] what their project is, how much it’s worth, and we’ll have a committee that’s going to decide who gets how much money,” she said, adding they want to spread the money around and help as many local organizations as possible.

The next game is already under way, and the weekly draw will happen Thursday. People can buy tickets at the station or on its website.