43
Queen Less
Prize could reach $2M for next drawing
By brandon Klein
AUSTINTOWN
Paul Gregorc of Chardon wasn’t at the Queen of Hearts drawing when his ticket was drawn Sunday night for the chance to win more than $1.23 million at Barry Dyngles Pub.
But about 2,000 people who did come out were relieved when the 10 of Clubs was drawn instead of the Queen of Hearts. If it had been the card, Gregorc, born and raised in Austintown, wasn’t required to be at the 1601 S. Raccoon Road location to win the full amount because of rule changes agreed upon between the bar’s ownership and the township.
“What a shock,” he said in a phone interview with The Vindicator. “What a letdown.”
Gregorc has been buying tickets for the drawing throughout the summer. He said he’s been showing up at the drawing every week when it was required but wanted to avoid the traffic this time. He and his son spent $100 together for Sunday night’s drawing.
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 drawing usually took place Wednesdays at 8 p.m., but as the jackpot grew, so did the crowds, shutting down roads temporarily and causing issues for some local businesses. Austintown trustees and the bar ownership agreed to allow 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, if they are not there, with the remaining 50 percent being rolled into the next 54-card board.
With the drawing Sunday, the crowd was much smaller compared to previous weeks. Hundreds still showed up to celebrate the chance of winning the jackpot. There were only 10 Austintown off-duty police officers patrolling the area – down from the initially reported 12 to 16 off-duty officers because crowd turnout was lower than expected.
“It’s still a beautiful crowd,” said Doug Duganne, general manager at Barry Dyngles.
People were still buying tickets and dropping them off in the 300-gallon red bin. The jackpot came in officially at $1,238,184 with 459,981 tickets purchased since the last drawing two weeks ago. While rotating the bin, Duganne remarked on how heavy it was.
“This is heavy,” Duganne said as he rotated the bin to mix up the tickets.
“You guys have outdone yourselves,” he said to the crowd.
When Gregorc’s name was drawn, people started booing after they realized he wasn’t there. Duganne phoned Gregorc on the spot and, sure enough, he was home – much to the displeasure of some people at the event.
But people cheered when Gregorc’s selected spot, No. 53, on the board produced the wrong card. The jackpot will continue growing next week and the spots available are Nos. 15, 27, 30, 34, 48, 51 and 52. Duganne said that with the rule change people are buying more tickets and expects the jackpot to hit up to $2 million next week.
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 restaurant.
And Gregorc won’t go home empty-handed. He gets a $20 gift card to the restaurant, but he still plans to buy tickets for next week’s drawing.
“Next time I’ll be there,” he said.