The 50/50 pot started at $25,000 and grew steadily through the night.
It proved so popular with ticket-buying hockey fans who braved long lines at Saturday's nearly sold-out game at CN Centre that by the end of the first period, the Prince George Cougars had to put a stop to it, with a franchise-record $67,000 already collected.
The computer system that prints out all the numbers individually on single pieces of paper was simply overwhelmed and there wasn't enough time to make sure all the numbers had been printed before the winning ticket was selected. Of that total, $33,500 is earmarked for the Shelly L. Mrkonjic ALS Research Fund and the same amount will paid to the lucky ticket holder .
The big question is, when will that winning number be announced?
"We are assuming (Pointstreak Sports Technologies, which operates the automated 50/50 system) will have support people working (on Sunday)," said the Cougars vice-president of business, Andy Beesley. "We know it's not a big deal, but because the stakes are so high and we have to be so transparent with it for obvious reasons, we just don't want to take the chance. We're going to wait until we're 100 per cent sure everything's printed properly."
Beesley said there were at least 30,000 numbers to print.
"We're not aware of any other team that has an electronic system, so we really are the guinea pigs," said Beesley. "It's a great system but it clearly wasn't designed to do $60,000 or $70,000 (worth of tickets). We are going to upgrade it with more printers and more kiosks to make it work. We could have easily made $120,000."
The Cougars made the decision early in the season to lend their support to the Mrkonjic ALS Fund to honour the memory of Cougars winger Tyler Mrkonjic's mother, who died of ALS in 2006. Cougar majority owner Greg Pocock dropped $25,000 into the 50/50 pot, which guaranteed a large payday. The Cougars gave away 50/50 tickets to season ticket holders and their volunteers.
No doubt, some of the 5,404 people in attendance for Saturday's game came just for the chance to win the 50/50, but as it turned out they got treated to one of the most exciting games of the Cougars season, ending in a 4-3 shootout win for the visiting Victoria Royals.
Beesley said the former record 50/50 payout at a Cougars game, about $12,000, happened in the 1990s when the team regularly sold put home games.
Once the winning number has been picked, it will be reported by the team on its website and to all media sources, including an advertisement to be published in the Citizen.
Update: the draw for more than $33,000 takes place Monday at 3 p.m. at CN Centre. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
