Queen of Hearts raffle in Waterloo aims for $2 million jackpot
With a raucous crowd ready to celebrate a new millionaire in the Queen of Hearts raffle for Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School in downtown Waterloo Tuesday night, the Queen did not show up.
Instead, the Four of Diamonds was selected with the jackpot announced at $1,397,265.
Organizers say they expect the jackpot to grow to nearly $2 million in one or two weeks if a winner hasn’t been picked by then.
And when the jackpot reaches $2 million, they will keep picking players until someone pulls open the Queen of Hearts playing card from a sealed poster board and wins the jackpot.
The game has to stop at $2 million because a Waterloo ordinance from 2017 limits a Queen of Hearts grand prize at $2 million.
The jackpot has been growing since March when the weekly raffle began.
The next drawing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 24 next to the Outsider pub at 104 S. Market St. in Waterloo. There are still 15 cards left on the board to draw.
Tickets cost $1. However, the registration for new players ended when the jackpot crossed the $1 million threshold last month and only persons previously registered can buy tickets.
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.
On Tuesday night, the person selected was not present, and the organizers pulled a card for her, which was the Four of Diamonds.
Saints Peter and Paul has not announced what it will do with its share of the money.
The fundraiser had been on hold since Dec. 20 because of the holidays. Normally, a drawing is conducted every Tuesday night.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 9:53 PM.
