'My legs were shaking': Hay River's Les Ring wins $500K Chase the Ace jackpot

Les Ring doesn't like crowds, so he never intended on taking part in Hay River's Chase the Ace competition.

But when one of his employees, who was already volunteering at the events, offered to draw his ticket for him while Ring watched the competition unfold online at home, he decided to give it a go.

And then, Ring's ticket number was called this past Friday night.

"I turned on Facebook Live to watch the draw, once the ticket came up, I left the TV on, lights on, I jumped in my boots, went outside, had my truck in the garage and I was nervous backing out of there, thinking I was going to go too fast, hit the wall," Ring said. 

Ring says after his ticket number was drawn, he had 20 minutes (ample time in Hay River) to get to the sports bar himself and attempt to draw the ace of spades.

"And somebody met me at the front entrance and took my truck around and parked it for me while I went in there."

And, of course, Ring drew the right card, winning him a total of $511,034.

'I felt my face go straight red'

Every Friday for the past 42 weeks in Hay River, people from different parts of the territory would crowd into the town and pay $5 for a Chase the Ace ticket.

Each week, a winning ticket was picked in a classic 50-50 style draw. Half the proceeds of the night would go to the curling club, 20 per cent to the winner and 30 per cent into a rolling jackpot.

The winner of the draw then got the chance to pick a random card from a deck, hoping to draw the ace of spades, which would mean they won the ever-growing, rolling jackpot.

Ring, 51, said because he's shy and doesn't like crowds, his head was down when he walked into the bar Friday night to attempt to draw the ace of spades. He couldn't tell how many people were around him but he could sense there were quite a few. 

"I felt my face just go straight red... my legs were shaking a little bit," Ring recalled, adding that while he doesn't like crowds, he did like the excitement the competition brought to the town. 

'My cellphone has been going off like crazy'

Ring was born and raised in Hay River and he and his brother and sister own the drug store Ring's Pharmacy Ltd. 

With a population of about 3,600, most people know who you are in Hay River — especially if you're a local businessman. 

Ring said he went to buy cream at the grocery early Saturday morning, following his winning Friday, and even the few people there congratulated him. 

He said he expects it to be a little different at work come Monday morning. 

"My cellphone has been going off like crazy, of course," Ring said. "It hasn't stopped. Everybody texting and texting and texting."

Ring said he and his wife still have to figure out exactly what they'll do with their more than half million dollars, but he knows already where some of it is allocated: to his daughter's university tuition and to his generous employee who offered to brave the crowds for him. 

"If she wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have [participated]," he said.