Austintown couple wins smaller prize in drawing game

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Mel Bowen and his fiancee, Marie Latone, didn’t win the big jackpot of $524,000 in Wednesday’s Queen of Hearts game at Barry Dyngles Pub, but they were winners.

Bowen and Latone of Austintown won about $52,400 or 10 percent of the pot when their white ticket, No. 12, was called, and the queen of clubs was turned up.

At first it was believed that Bowen was not there because he could not immediately be found, and would receive only half of the $52,000.

However, Bowen said his name was mispronounced, it was hard to hear, and it took a long time to work their way through the crowd to claim the prize.

“We had been there since about 5 p.m., and we had videos to prove we were there all the time,” Bowen said in a telephone interview.

The video was verified by Austintown police, said Dyngles manager, Doug Duganne. He said Bowen would be given his prize at a later date and escorted to the bank of his choice by Austintown police.

Bowen said Wednesday night that they hadn’t decided what they would do with the money, except that he plans to buy drinks for the house one night at Dyngles.

Duganne announced that 194,843 tickets were sold for Wednesday’s drawing and estimated the jackpot for the next drawing on Sept. 16 would be $700,000.

There are nine numbers left, one of which is the queen of hearts. The queens of spades and diamonds and the two jokers paid off very early in the game, Duganne said.

Numbers left to pick are 15, 27, 30, 34, 38, 48, 51, 52 and 53.

Tom Bailey of East Liverpool, a crew leader at Dearing Compressor in Youngstown, said he played for the past seven weeks and purchased 420 tickets for a group of 21 from Dearing for Wednesday’s drawing.

Among the estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people crowded in the area outside Dyngles, Bailey, a graduate of Beaver School High School, said his name was drawn when the jackpot was about $151,000.

He said his No. 32 garnered him the four of spades; but if you get your name picked you have a real shot at winning.

“My nerves were up ... my heart was racing ... it was unbelievable,” Bailey said.

Several people interviewed knew what they would do with the huge jackpot if they were to win it.

“I’d pay off the mortgage on the house and get rid of car payments. It would be nice to put money in the bank instead of paying bills,” said Ed Esker of Youngstown.

Chris and Fred McBride of Hubbard purchased 70 tickets for Wednesday. However, he said, someone just in front of him dropped $2,500 for tickets.

Jeanne Smithy of Lake Milton and her sister, Betsy Stipanovich of Austintown each bought 20 tickets.

“I have no idea what I would do with the money if I won, but it would be fun to find out,” Smith said.

“I’d pay my house off,” said Sarah Honsinger of Warren.

Wednesday’s crowd was large and friendly, but Austintown police Capt. Bryan Kloss said the department and Barry Dyngles Pub officials had worked together in several ways ahead of tonight’s jackpot drawing.

The restaurant, at 1601 S. Raccoon Road, hired five off-duty officers to handle the crowd.

“We’ve had no complaints” on the Queen of Hearts game, Kloss said. “It’s legal to operate it ... the bottom line is that the business that’s holding it is going to have to account for the money.”

Kloss said police and Dyngles officials had made arrangements with what would happen if the jackpot is won, but would not provide specific details. “We’re looking for the safety of the winner,” Kloss said. “The money is not on scene. That was a concern of our’s, if they had a break-in at night.”

Due to concerns of liquor being consumed in the parking lot during last week’s festivities surrounding the ticket drawing, restaurant officials worked on getting liquor permits for consumption in the parking lot.

“That was a concern of ours,” Kloss said. He wasn’t sure “if [the restaurant] would have them by tonight, as far as extending [liquor consumption] to the parking lot.”

Kloss said there will be road units in the area as well as the off-duty officers working the parking lot.

People can buy a ticket for $1 and write their name, phone number and what spot will be selected. Once the ticket is drawn, that spot will be selected from the 10 remaining spots remaining. The board began with 54 cards, including the two jokers, and had dwindled to 10 as the weeks have gone by.

There were 20 percent jackpot payouts when the jokers were revealed and the queens have paid out 10 percent. The full jackpot is paid out if the Queen of Hearts is selected and that person is present. If the person is not present and the elusive Queen of Hearts is selected, half of the jackpot is awarded to that winner.

Kloss said it is his understanding that the other 50 percent, if the winner is not on sight, would be rolled over to the next game of Queen of Hearts with a fresh 54-card board.

The game is legal because all of the money put in is awarded to the winner and the operator of the pool does not take any of the money. Any winner is obligated to pay taxes on winnings more than $599.