Ace gets chased, Wekweeti winner takes home $200,000

A woman from Wekweètì is $200,000 richer after pulling the ace of spades, bringing the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club’s Chase the Ace contest to a close.

Ticket sales from four venues across Yellowknife reached $150,000 in a frenzied Friday night pursuit of the jackpot, drawing participants from various NWT communities.

The woman, identified as Adeline Football, first had her ticket – a green ticket, number 4303943 – pulled from the many thousands of entries. That guaranteed her a prize of $37,500.

“For real! I never thought I’d have won,” she exclaimed on presenting her ticket to officials.

Football then successfully drew the ace of spades from the 10 remaining cards, adding the jackpot of just over $162,000 to her winnings as the Monkey Tree Pub crowd erupted.

Watch: Monkey Tree Pub’s video of the winning moment

Proceeds from this Chase the Ace will go toward new equipment for the city’s gymnastics club.

Football is identified as the community director for Wekweètì on the website of the Tłı̨chǫ Government.