Groans and anger could be heard and felt from those in attendance as tickets were spilled on the ground during the McHenry Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4600 Queen of Hearts drawing Tuesday night.

VFW Cmdr. Dwane Lungren said even though the tickets spilled, a new bin will not be bought.

“They probably just slipped between the bin, so we’ll probably just put some foam in between and reseal them. That’s all we’ll do,” Lungren said.

During the process, Miss McHenry, Julie Durkin, chose a ticket with the name Richard H. on it. The ticket did not have a card number written on it, so the process began anew.

That’s when the tickets spilled. After they were placed back in the bin, Durkin chose another ticket. The name on the ticket was Sandi J., and she had selected the No. 9 card.

Inside was the deck's second joker, meaning she won 5 percent of the
$1.5 million pot, or $77,960.

Next week’s pot now is $1,649,274, with 19 cards remaining in the deck. If the queen of hearts is chosen next week, the winner will earn 60 percent of the pot, which is about $960,000 before taxes. Then, 20 percent of the pot would go back to the VFW, and the other 20 percent would go to beginning the next pot. Of the total, 33 percent would go toward state and federal taxes.

There still are two queens left, including the queen of hearts.

Durkin said she was nervous pulling the ticket, but she enjoyed being at the event.

“It was crazy. I’ve lived in McHenry and my parents have been playing for about a year now, and I’ve never actually seen the whole product come together,” Durkin said. “It’s crazy how many people come out to give it a go with this winning ticket.”

The VFW continues to see a 20 percent to 30 percent ticket sales increase each week. Lungren said an estimated $168,000 in tickets were sold in the past week.

Ticket sales for next week’s drawing begin Wednesday. Guests can buy their tickets any day except Monday, when the VFW is closed.

Next Tuesday, the VFW will include a food drive in the process. Any nonperishable food item is worth one ticket in the raffle. There is no limit on tickets, but it was noted that three packs of ramen
noodles would be worth one ticket.