Big Spin® 2000 Contestants Win More Than $1.2 Million - Superbowl Champ Dwight Hicks Presents "Hero In Education" Award

07.31.1999
Big Spin® 2000 Contestants Win More Than $1.2 Million - Superbowl Champ Dwight Hicks Presents "Hero In Education" Award

SACRAMENTO -- The new California Lottery's "Big Spin® 2000" show airs Saturday, July 31, 1999 in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a total of $1,287,500, including the latest Weekly Grand winner.

Despite two back surgeries, for the past three years, Gabe Martin has managed to volunteer twenty to thirty hours per week at Dos Rios Elementary School. A respected role model, Martin, has volunteered his time to help teachers in many ways. He distributes handouts, tutors children and helps teachers deal with disruptive children. Martin also devotes his time outside the classroom by doing yard duty, mentoring school children and is assistant coach for the girls' basketball team. In addition, Martin collects donations and gifts from individuals and local businesses to be used at the school. One of his more noted deeds last year was to collect enough donated neckties for each student to give to their fathers on Father's Day as a gift. Dwight Hicks, former 49er & four-time Super Bowl champion presented Martin with California Lottery's "Hero in Education" award.

"I couldn't believe it, I couldn't stop giggling," said Fantasy 5® Dream Machine winner Christina Andreoli. Andreoli, a Website manager from Foster City, took her chances at the Fantasy Five Dream Machine. Dream Machine players have up to five chances to launch one ball at a time into one of five bins in the machine, each bin representing a cash prize amount. Andreoli won $95,000 and plans to buy a home and take a vacation to Alaska.

It was only Joe Palacios's third time purchasing Big Spin Scratchers®. Palacio, a route salesman from Clovis, was this week's Spin-Spin-Spin winner. "I'm going to hit the triple, and it doesn't matter what I hit after that," Palacio said, "I had it in my head that I would, and I did." Palacio was right, he spun the largest prize wheel in the world and it landed on "Triple." Palacio's next spin landed on $30,000 that made his total win $90,000. As for Palacios's plans, he's going to buy his wife a brand new Cadillac!

A friend of Rayne Ford bought $15 worth of Scratchers®, and gave five of them to Ford. Her third Scratchers ticket was a California Gold winner. Ford, a case record analyst from Jamestown, spun the largest prize wheel in the world and was awarded $40,000. Ford said that she had always been interested in history and now she has the opportunity to do what she'd always wanted to do. Ford plans to go on an archeological dig in New Mexico. She also plans to put a down payment on a house, take care of bills and help her mother and brother.

The California Lottery sells its products through a network of more than 18,000 outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34 percent to public schools, and 14 percent for administrative expenses, which includes 6.8 percent for retailer commissions. Since 1985, the Lottery has raised more than $10 billion for public schools and has provided an annual average of approximately 38 percent of the Lottery's total revenues to schools. The California Lottery's contribution equals approximately 2 percent of the state's total education budget. "Big Spin® 2000" is the longest running Lottery game show in the country, airing continuously since 1985.

NAME	CITY	AMOUNT
Weekly Grand Winner	TBA	$ 1,040,000
Christina Andreoli	Foster City	$ 95,000
Joe Palacios	Clovis	$ 90,000
Rayne Ford	Jamestown	$ 40,000
Other California Gold Winners		$ 22,500
		TOTAL $1,287,500

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1999 3rd Quarter Press Releases: Article