50/50 Clears $380,000 at Warriors Home Opener

MJ Independent

Somebody just won a lot of money at the Moose Jaw Warriors home opener.

It was night filled with pyrotechnics, artificial fog and the rapturous applause of fans as they welcomed home their team with a sold out crowd.

Lots of applause was reserved for new team Captain Josh Brook and returning goaltender Adam Evanoff, who was sharp in the away opener in Brandon but ultimately came home with a 2-1 loss.

Lets get to the heart of the story.

At the end of the 2017 Moose Jaw Warriors season, the team set a single game record for highest 50/50 ticket sales. It happened in a home game against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. The ticket would have been worth $166,615 but nobody claimed it. As you can see from the printout below.

You can read more about the unclaimed ticket here.

How it works in the case of an unclaimed jackpot is, according to the rules, the money is returned to an upcoming prize pool and the potential jackpot starts growing with the purchase of the first 50/50 ticket.

That means the jackpot would probably be paid out at the home opener in 2018; that is unless it went unclaimed again.

The game sold out quickly, lineups for tickets were long and they were selling fast. By 6:03 pm the total had already grown to $184,455.

The jackpot was flashed on the scoreboard at one-minute intervals, climbing at a rate of $2,000 per minute.

During a break in play at the 3:40 mark in period one many fans got up from their seats to purchase tickets.

By the start of the first intermission the jackpot was at $303,000 and within .25 seconds it had escalated to $305,000. it officially surpassed $350,000 by the 9:30 mark of period 2.

At the start of the second intermission the total was $366,000.

It was obvious that despite the 50/50 sales that families were having a great time enjoying a great game.

As the Warriors entered the ice for the third period the applause was uproarious; they trailed 3-0 but the ticket sales had reached $378,260.

New Captain Josh Brook scored twice in the third period to make it a 3-2 around the same time the jackpot reached $380,000.

The Warriors failed to capitalize on a late power play and ultimately Brandon would fill an empty net to make it 4-2.

The 50/50 jackpot reached as high as $383,450. The loss may have stung, but somebody went home happy.

The announced attendance was 4,765.