LaSalle man wins $1.6 million Morris VFW Queen of Hearts jackpot

MORRIS, Ill. (WLS) -- After months of drawings and a long legal delay, the "Queen of Hearts" raffle in Morris has a winner.

Kevin Repsel of LaSalle won the jackpot of $1.6 million. He was not present at the raffle Monday, and organizers contacted him by phone.

The small town raffle's jackpot has built for just a week shy of a year.

"We've had standing room only crowds for four, five months, ticket sales through the roof. It's just phenomenal," said Jerry Zeborowski, post commander for Morris VFW 605.

The game was temporarily put on hold in August after organizers were told it violated a state law and municipal code. Now with a license to draw, the game is back on Monday night with just three numbers left on the board. That guarantees someone will walk out a millionaire.

"We will draw tickets down until the queen is uncovered. Whoever that is with that number that matches the queen gets $1.6 million," Zeborowski said.

In the game, people buy tickets and then choose a number on a chart. If the queen of hearts is behind their number, the person gets 70 percent of ticket sales.