There was a thrilling conclusion to Villa Park Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2801’s Queen of Hearts contest on Friday, May 8.
The contest’s ticket drawing, held each Friday night, normally features the selection of one ticket, and the revealing of one space on the contest board. But when the total prize pot passed $150,000, the post was required to conduct a drawdown on Friday—selecting tickets and uncovering contest spaces until the Queen of Hearts was revealed.
The contest board includes 54 spaces—one space for each card in a standard 52-card deck, along with spaces for two jokers. The contest that ended on Friday began about two and a-half years ago, in November 2023. The contest board was refilled multiple times since then after two jokers were revealed. When two jokers are revealed before the Queen of Hearts, the contest continues with a new contest board featuring 54 covered spaces.
There were 24 covered spaces on the contest board at the start of Friday’s drawdown, which took place in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd in the post’s Bergh Room. After 20 cards were uncovered, the Queen of Hearts remained hidden on the contest board.
Many of the contestants who had their ticket drawn from the contest drum were in the Bergh Room as the drawdown unfolded. Those contestants approached the contest board and revealed what card was hiding behind their selected space.
With just four covered cards remaining on the contest board, a ticket purchased by a contestant who wishes to remain anonymous was pulled from the ticket drum. That contestant, who was not at the drawing, had written No. 29 on that ticket. No. 29 was one of the four covered spaces remaining on the contest board. The card behind that space was revealed to be the Queen of Hearts, and the lucky contestant won the grand prize—60 percent of the prize pot of over $150,000—or more than $90,000, before taxes. The post claimed 20 percent of the prize pot. The remaining 20 percent seeds the post’s new Queen of Hearts contest, which begins this Friday, May 15. The drawing takes place at 8 p.m. A pack of five tickets costs $5. Tickets are available at the post throughout the week, up until a few minutes before the drawing. Contestants do not have to be present at the drawing.
