SALEM – If area residents didn’t know about Adele’s Place before, they do now as they chase nearly a quarter of a million dollars and the so far elusive Queen of Hearts at the Snyder Road restaurant.

Five cards remain on the Queen of Hearts game board and as of Wednesday afternoon, the jackpot stood at $222,481 – a jackpot which started a year ago and started growing, one $1 ticket at a time.

If the Queen of Hearts shows up tonight and the lucky winner isn’t present, the winner will receive half of the jackpot, per the rules set by restaurant owner Adele Lake. The other half will be rolled into the next Queen of Hearts game.

When Lake purchased the game board last year using restaurant funds, she said she never thought the jackpot would grow this high. The game has proven successful in promoting the eatery at 509 Snyder Road in Perry Township, dramatically increasing the number of clientele who come back each week to buy tickets, attend the drawing and eat a meal.

“A lot of people in the Salem area never knew we were here,” she said.

When asked how many people attended last week’s drawing, she said it could be anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 or more and that’s a guess.

“People were all over the place,” she said.

The drawing takes place at 6:30 p.m., with ticket sales cut off at 6:15 p.m. just before the ticket drum rolls. The rules have stayed the same since the beginning except for the time for ticket sales being extended. The board started out with 54 cards face down and numbered. Ticket buyers indicate their name, phone number and what number they want and if their ticket is pulled, that’s the number of the card that’s cut out and revealed.

Adele and her staff have no clue where the Queen of Hearts card is located. The game board comes already sealed and ready to go from Nannicola Bingo Co., which distributes charitable gaming and fundraising products. She doesn’t get a dime from the Queen of Hearts game itself – she’s not allowed.

An increased customer base and increased food sales are her reward, plus she’s met a lot of new people. She added a lot of volunteers, a cook and two dishwashers to handle the larger crowd, plus they’ve been putting up tents.

“The people have been really nice,” she said.

She’s enjoyed it but said she’s getting tired from the longer hours. Last week they held a 50/50 drawing with the idea of giving half the funds to a charity or non-profit entity and chose the Perry Township Police Department as the recipient. She hadn’t decided yet who will benefit from this week’s 50/50 drawing.

“Perry Township has been awesome. They’ve gone out of their way for me,” Lake said.

Perry Township Police Chief Mike Emigh explained that he’s being paid by Adele’s as security for the event, then he has two of his part-time officers handle traffic control, which is costing the township for an extra officer for three hours and then the part-time officer on duty. The full-time officer who’s on duty is available if there’s a problem, but according to Emigh, there haven’t been any problems. In the time since the crowds have grown, he’s only towed one vehicle for being too close to a fire hydrant.

His main concern is keeping the hydrants clear and keeping people from illegally parking along the guardrails. He also said it’s not the locals who give him trouble, but the people coming from out of town regarding the parking. Henry Spack has been allowing parking in a field he owns behind the restaurant which has helped with the parking situation.

Queen of Hearts games have grown in popularity due to some large jackpots. A woman won 1.8 million from Barry Dyngles in Austintown and the jackpot at Skyline Bowling in Garrettsville is expected to possibly hit nearly $3 million by the time ticket sales close for the Sunday drawing. The board is down to three cards, with tickets costing $5 each. Rules for the games are set by the entity hosting the game.

“Queen of Hearts drawings are not regulated in the state of Ohio,” Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s office, said.

The game is considered a pool not conducted for profit. He said the key question is whether 100 percent of the proceeds go to the winner or is the house taking a cut or taking a profit. When asked about the idea of a partial payout if the winner isn’t present and the rest being rolled over, he couldn’t say whether that was legal or not and suggested a business consult with an attorney for any legal questions. He said the question of legality would depend on the individual game.

“What’s occurring is basically promotional advertising,” Tierney said.

When it comes to paying taxes on the winnings, Ohio Department of Taxation spokesperson Gary Gudmundson said it’s pretty clear – the ultimate responsibility is on the taxpayer.

Lake said the jackpot winner will have to fill out a form for the taxes and it will be the winner’s responsibility to pay any taxes on the income.