Hockey fan will get disputed 50-50 winnings
Falcons agree to pay second $4,600 prize
A hockey fan who had a winning 50-50 ticket but lost out when a second ticket was drawn will get the money after all.
The St. Catharines Junior B Falcons said Tuesday it will award two winners with the $4,600 prize from their April 9 draw that took place during a Niagara IceDogs game at Meridian Centre.
They are also tweaking their 50-50 draw times and will ensure rules are visibly posted at their draw table.
“It’s to make it easier for us to guarantee that we’re getting a winner the first time around,” said Falcons president Jim McConnell.
“We never want to draw a second ticket.”
The club has drawn second tickets in the past without problems but McConnell said “it’s still not a good situation.”
The changes come after Jamie Acker of Thorold bought a winning 50-50 ticket for $4,600 at the April 9 IceDogs playoff game and missed the first announcement about the numbers.
The draw happened during the third period when the IceDogs surrendered two goals, sending the game into overtime, which they won 4-3.
When Acker heard his number in a re-announcement, he made his way to the ticket table from the other side of the arena.
When he got there, he was told a second ticket had been drawn and he was out of luck. He said the second winner hadn’t arrived yet.
Acker, whose story in The Standard received a huge response on social media, spoke with McConnell on Tuesday.
“They did the right thing, but it should have never got to this.”
Acker said he plans to split the money with his son and a friend who were at the game with him that night and donate a percentage to the Humboldt Broncos fund.
“I’m happy they’re going to change the rules so this will never happen again and people will know when they win, they have how many minutes to get there.”
The Falcons said in a press release they are “100 per cent confident” they followed the rules “consistently and correctly” but decided to pay both ticket holders anyway.
McConnell said in an interview the procedure the Falcons have used for years is to draw the ticket when there are 10 minutes left on the game clock.
After 10 minutes of real time, not clock time, the announcer makes a final call and warns that the winner has until the threeminute mark on the clock to present the ticket. Failing to do so will result in a new draw.
But McConnell said that system couldn’t guarantee every draw would happen on the 10minute mark. To draw the ticket on the game screen, they had to wait for a break in action.
On April 9, the draw didn’t happen until the seven minute 38 second mark and the second number wasn’t re-drawn until there was about a minute and a half to go.
McConnell said they are modifying the draw time, after consulting with the IceDogs organization, so it will take place two clock minutes earlier.
The amount of time a winner has to claim their ticket is the same, but the draw will take place at the 12-minute instead of the 10-minute mark. The number will be posted on the screen at that time even if the draw itself can’t happen onscreen.
The winner will have until the five-minute mark before a ticket is re-drawn.
As well, procedures will be posted at the ticket table. They weren’t posted on April 9 but McConnell said they were there at the following night’s game.
He said the new steps will go into effect next season.
“We want to put it behind us and move forward with our revised procedures,” he said. “Hopefully we have no issues going forward.”
The St. Catharines Falcons sell 100,000 to 150,000 tickets a year for their 50-50 draws. Money raised goes towards Falcons ice time, equipment for players, bus transportation and education bursaries.