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Austintown, Barry Dyngles ready for Sunday night Queen of Hearts draw
Jackpot already exceeds $1 million
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
The crowds were back at Barry Dyngles on Friday after township trustees unanimously approved the Queen of Hearts drawing resuming at the pub.
The next drawing to try to locate the elusive Queen of Hearts, and her $1 million-and-growing jackpot, is 7:30 p.m. Sunday back at the 1601 S. Raccoon Road location.
That meeting took place because the township and pub “mutually agreed” to postpone the drawing that would have been Wednesday, said Rick Stauffer, Austintown trustee.
The delay allowed both sides to consider other locations and adjust the rules in an effort to manage crowds estimated at up to 8,000.
The rule change agreed to allows the winner to receive 100 percent of the jackpot, regardless of whether that person is present. That’s a change from the previous “house rule” of a winner getting 50 percent of the jackpot, with the remaining 50 percent being rolled into the next 54-card board.
That 50 percent rule “is commonplace. The whole idea of the game is to bring people in,” said Doug Duganne, general manager at Barry Dyngles.
Duganne said the pub has a Direct TV package for NFL games Sunday and is usually crowded that day.
The pub began its 54-card board last October and sells $1 tickets until the drawing. Patrons are required to write their name, phone number and what space they think the queen is hiding under. The eight cards left on the board are face down under a heavy coating that requires a sharp edge to cut around the card to reveal its number and suit.
Tickets do not roll over week to week, requiring patrons to purchase tickets ahead of each draw as the jackpot has grown.
The game is legal as long as the pub pays out 100 percent of the funds collected in the pool, local and state officials have said.
Trustees Jim Davis and Stauffer said they went to businesses on Raccoon and New roads to talk with them about their concerns Thursday afternoon, speaking to about 25 businesses.
“Many of those businesses that are being impacted negatively are closed [on Sundays], or close early enough that they will be out of there by the time people start to come for the draw,” Stauffer said. “Those that [have] benefited from it love the fact that it’s coming back to Raccoon Road.”
The pub will hire between 12 and 16 off-duty officers, or the same amount Austintown schools would hire for a football game or an event expected to draw a large crowd. Township officials are hoping it’s a smaller crowd Sunday night with the requirement of having to be present to win the full jackpot being lifted.
The pub will have trash receptacles along Raccoon Road to help with concerns about trash and litter from crowds after the drawing.