Highland readies for city's first Queen of Hearts drawing
Knights of Columbus Council 1580 will hold the first-ever Queen of Hearts drawing in Highland on Thursday.
“The enthusiasm from the membership and the volunteers for the drawing has been good, and there is enthusiasm in the community. A lot of people have been asking about it, and we are excited to get it started,” said raffle manager Dennis Thole.
Due in large part to some staggeringly large jackpots, Queen of Hearts raffles have to become popular in the metro-east.
The raffle is used by non-profit organizations to earn supplemental income. That’s why the Knights of Columbus got into it.
“We were just looking for a new way to make some revenue, and in turn, give it to charity,” Thole said.
Tickets are usually $1, and each ticket purchased gives the player a shot at the jackpot. Drawings are done once a week, every week. One player is chosen to draw a card. If it is the queen of hearts, they win. If no winner is chosen, the pot rolls over to the next week’s drawing.
Crowd control
Sometimes, the raffle jackpots have grown large, and so have the associated crowds. Thousands of people flocked to Aviston last fall when the jackpot there grew to over $1 million.
Thole said such problems that have occurred in other towns should not be an issue in Highland.
“The big concern for everybody is these massive crowds. We do not anticipate that,” Thole said.
The crowd size should be kept in check by the limit on the number of pins issued (2,000) and the maximum jackpot of $500,000. Both of those numbers are set by city ordinance.
However, should the crowd exceed the size of the KC hall, Thole said the pavilion area outside near the baseball diamonds could be used, or other accommodations made, such as tents.
“The hall capacity alone isn’t everything,” he said.
Highland’s rules
In the wake of a Belleville News-Democrat investigation that showed local municipalities had been having a hard time playing the game correctly, the Highland City Council wanted to construct an ordinance to allow the game, but set up rules to keep it fair. Council members also wanted the ordinance to address safety concerns brought on the potential massive influx of people to town.
The City Council passed such an ordinance in March, creating two types of licenses – one with a 2,000-player cap and the other with a maximum of 5,000 players. Both have a jackpot cap. Organizations seeking to do a raffle must also coordinate with the city to come up with crowd control and emergency situation plans.
The Knights of Columbus is the first organization to seek a permit and chose the 2,000-person limit.
Tickets will be sold on a personal identification number basis, which limits the number of players of to the predetermined amount. Each player is issued a PIN with the purchase of their first ticket. The player keeps that PIN number throughout the raffle event, which is applied to all tickets the person buys. People can buy as many tickets as they like. The more tickets sold, the bigger the jackpot.
In Highland, KC members began issuing PIN numbers for the raffle June 5 and. A week before the drawing, issued about 450 PINs had been issued, Thole said.
Thole said he didn’t know if the KC would hit their PIN limit by the time of the first drawing or not.
“It’s all in the cards, is what it amounts to,” Thole said.
However, he did think he had a handle on the minimum size of the jackpot.
“Our first weekly drawing will be in excess of $3,000 – if it does go out,” Thole said.
How to play
The PIN number you receive is yours for the duration of the game. PIN numbers are free, but you must by your raffle tickets. Once you have a PIN number you may purchase any number of tickets.
Players write their PIN number on each of their tickets and place them in a provided receptacle. At the time of the drawing, one of these tickets is pulled. If you are lucky, it will be yours. At that point, you have a decision to make. The first week of the game there will be a board with 54 playing cards pasted and sealed face down. You select which card space you want uncovered. If you are lucky again, you selected the space that holds the Queen of Hearts. That means you win the jackpot.
If it is not the Queen of Hearts, you will receive a cash consolation prize.
If you are not present at the time of the drawing, a card will be selected for you. If the Queen of Hearts is reveled, you will receive one-half of the week’s jackpot. The other half will be added to the jackpot of the new game, beginning the next week.
You can register for your PIN and buy tickets at the Highland Knights of Columbus Hall, 12454 Illinois 143, this week on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. On Thursday, the night of the drawing, PINs and tickets will be available from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
After the initial drawing, tickets will be available at the KC Hall from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and on Thursday drawing nights from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Once this week’s Queen of Hearts drawing is complete, players can begin buying tickets for the next week.
Drawing night
The drawing will be held at 8 p.m., but doors to the KC Hall will open at 5 p.m.
The bar will be open, and food will also be served. Right now, the menu will consist of burgers, fries and super nachos. However, Thole said they hope to expand the menu in upcoming weeks.
“Hopefully, we can get a little more ‘bar food’ – chicken wings and things like that,” he said.
In addition to the Queen of Hearts, there will also be 50-50 drawing that night.
For more information, follow the Facebook event page: Queen of Hearts Highland Knights of Columbus.
This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Highland readies for city's first Queen of Hearts drawing."