With no winner Tuesday, Waterloo Queen of Hearts will go on a month-long holiday hiatus
No new millionaire was crowned in Waterloo.
The jackpot for the Queen of Hearts drawing to benefit Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School, had swelled to $1,230,904. Without a winner in Tuesday night’s drawing, it will get an additional time to grow and those anxious for their shot at becoming a millionaire will get another month to dream.
The drawing, which has drawn festive crowds to downtown Waterloo most Tuesdays since it started in March, will now go on a holiday hiatus. The next drawing will be Jan. 17. Tickets sales will resume to those already registered from the drawing on Jan. 7.
The jackpot topped $1,052,545 for the Dec. 6 drawing. The Dec. 13 drawing was canceled. because of the possibility of storms that night.
Tickets cost $1. However, the registration for new players ended when the jackpot crossed the $1 million threshold this month and only persons previously registered can buy tickets.
The raffle has been going on since March because no one has selected the Queen of Hearts playing card from a sealed game board. The person who selects the Queen of Hearts wins the jackpot.
Before Tuesday night, there were 17 cards left to pick. Now there are just 16.
The number drawn from the ticket tumbler Tuesday belonged to Devin McKenzie of Collinsville, who did not attend Tuesday’s drawing. Without being present, the best he could have won was half the jackpot. He pre-selected space no. 43 from the game board, however, which held the Ace of Hearts.
The drawing for the raffle is done next to the Outsider pub at 104 S. Market St. in Waterloo.
The school gets 20% of the ticket sales and the rest of the money goes to the jackpot. A player has to be present to win the full jackpot, but gets half of the jackpot if not present. The other half of the jackpot is then saved for a new round of the game.
This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 8:17 PM.
