Red Bud man wins nearly $1.9 million Queen of Hearts jackpot in Waterloo
A large roar rolled through downtown Waterloo Tuesday night as the Queen of Hearts was selected for a nearly $1.9 million jackpot that had been building since March in the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School raffle.
Sam Houston, 61, of Red Bud claimed the winnings when the Queen of Hearts playing card was pulled from a sealed poster board. “I was absolutely shocked,” Houston said in describing his reaction.
The jackpot was $1,886,536 Tuesday night.
Houston said he doesn’t have “a clue” about what he will do with the money. “I can’t imagine how much money that is,” he said. “It hasn’t clicked yet.”
Houston said he has been playing the Waterloo raffle for the past six weeks. For the Tuesday night drawing, he bought $20 worth of raffle tickets as well $20 in the 50/50 drawing.
Houston is a retired iron worker. He is married and has eight children in a blended family.
The raffle had to be capped at $2 million because of a 2017 Waterloo ordinance that set that limit. Since the jackpot was approaching the legal limit, the raffle organizers said last week they would keep pulling raffle tickets Tuesday night until someone found the Queen of Hearts.
Players pick a playing card that is face down and sealed on a poster board. At the start of Tuesday night’s drawing, 14 cards were on the board. Normally, only one card is revealed each week and the game continues if no one picks the Queen of Hearts.
A huge crowd filled blocks of downtown Waterloo Tuesday night in the frigid cold - roughly 20 degrees - to watch and listen, along with about 5,000 people on Facebook Live. After more than an hour, the Queen of Hearts was the 12th card picked. Houston selected card No. 28 and his raffle ticket number was 8068.
“It is Queen of Hearts! ” the announcer said Tuesday night after pulling the card. “ Congratulations, congratulations ...The Queen of Hearts has been found.”
Lori Matzenbacher, the school’s principal, said Houston will be given a check this week at the parish’s office.
Financial experts have told the News-Democrat the winner can expect to pay a total of 41.95% in federal and state income taxes on the jackpot, with 37% going to the federal government and 4.95% going to the state. Also, the winner can expect that 24% of the federal taxes would be taken out immediately with the rest due next year.
Based on this information, Houston can expect to net $1,095,134 after being responsible for about $791,402 in taxes.
Tickets cost $1. However, the registration for new players ended when the jackpot crossed the $1 million threshold in December and only those previously registered could buy tickets.
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School gets 20% of the ticket sales and the rest of the money goes to the jackpot.
A player had to be present to win the full jackpot, but would get half of the jackpot even if they’re not. The other half of the jackpot is then saved for a new round of the game.
The school has not announced what it will do with its share of the money, but Matzenbacher said one possible project includes a new roof for the school’s gym.
In the last drawing on Jan. 24, the jackpot was $1,574,218.
The drawing was conducted in an outdoor booth next to the Outsider pub at 104 S. Market St. in downtown Waterloo.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 8:31 PM.
