The 50/50 draw at the Edmonton Eskimos game Thursday night beat all expectations, exceeding $348,000.

$72,000 was carried over to Thursday’s pot after it went unclaimed during the previous Eskimos home game.

Eskimos staff expected the draw to go over $200,000 but it blew past that reaching $348,534 when the draw closed. So many people bought tickets the draw couldn’t be done until after the game ended.

The possibility of winning the big pot had thousands lining up to buy a ticket. Some lines at the game stretched 50 people long with hopeful winners telling CTV News they waited more than 30 minutes to purchase a ticket.

Other fans reported ticket sellers were running out of paper causing further delays.

The winning ticket is 280731C. The winner had until Monday at 4 p.m. to claim the prize - but late Friday morning, a tweet from the Eskimos announced the ticket had been claimed.

 

 

 

An additional $348,534 will go to amateaur football in the city including the Edmonton Huskies, Edmonton Wildcats, University of Alberta Golden Bears, Football Alberta, and the Eskimo Alumni Association.