This screenshot from the live stream of the Chase the Ace draw at the Lloyd Ex on Sept. 6 captures the exact moment dealer Ray Foy holds up the the ace of hearts, chosen by Lloydminster resident Faith Ebach, earning her the $71,103 jackpot. Supplied Photo
You can’t make this stuff up.
Lloydminster resident Faith Ebach may have won the $71,103 jackpot in the Lloyd Ex Chase the Ace draw on Sept. 6. with X-ray vision.
The live stream video shows her starring down what turned out to be the winning ace of hearts after adjusting her glasses and knowing she had at least won the $2,647 weekly prize.
But all that changed when announcer Gord King said, “Okay now, we’ve got the nerves calmed down eh, Faith,” who continued her stare down.
Ironically, King yelled out, “She’s going off to the right. The card’s talking to her.”
Indeed it was, as dealer, Ray Foy, held up her winning pick for the camera after the count of three, two, one from King.
“You just won $71,000,” he screamed as Ebach flipped into a jackpot zombie frame of mind.
“Well, I’m scared I’m going to wake up and then, okay,” was all she could say in the moment.
Ebach was still in shock at the cheque presentation at the Lloyd Ex the following afternoon.
“It’s all surreal still,” she said.
Ebach did replay her memory of visually locking on to the ace of hearts right off the bat.
“I just stared at the first card I stared at. I was going to look at the other cards and I didn’t. I kept staring at that one and that was the one, so,” she said.
She plans to spend some of her winnings on new windows and house repairs with no blowout shopping sprees in mind.
“I’m cheap, it’s all going to go to good use,” she said with a laugh.
She went on to state, “I just want to go home and clean my house … it hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Shortly after, Stacy Cadzow, the Lloyd Ex finance manager, identified Ebach’s ticket as a winner, and a friend drove Ebach to the Ex to make the in-person card pick within the 15-minute limit.
That friend must drink the same lucky Kool-Aid as Ebach as he won $3,840 in a previous draw, missing the jackpot by pulling the four of hearts.
Ebach pulled off her win with a $10 ticket she buys each week online.
The next draw is already underway, and it could be a blockbuster if all the ducks line up.
Foy said there are only 38 weeks left in the current 52-week lottery licence, setting up the odds of having a final 14-card payout draw if no one draws the ace of hearts by then.
“If it got down to the 14, we’d put on a splash that you wouldn’t believe,” said Foy, who is also the president of the board of directors for the Lloydminster Exhibition Association.
He went on to say the draw helps a lot of people with 15 weekly winners in the draw won by Ebach.
“It helps the exhibition try to stay open as well, so it’s win-win,” said Foy.
Those benefits were also top of mind for Cadzow.
“It’s great to see people contribute and people win and it’s local people. It makes people’s lives better,” she said.
“I’ve been doing this for three years, so it’s great to see Lloyd Ex can get some money to help us with our facilities and local people are winning. A big ‘thank you’ to the entire Chase the Ace gang.”
