SACRAMENTO - The California Lottery's "Big Spin® 2000" show airs Saturday, November 25, 2000, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a combined total of $227,500.
Walnut Creek resident James Scott could not believe his luck. He mailed in the first Fantasy 5 ticket he ever bought on a Monday and received a letter in the mail three days later informing him that he was going to go to the "Big Spin® 2000" show. Once at the show, Scott played the Dream Machine and won $70,000. "I'm going to spend my money on my wife and on a vacation," said Scott.
"I'm going to pay off my student loans and take my friends out to dinner," said Fantasy 5 contestant Brad Arrington of Los Angeles. Arrington, an employee of the Los Angeles School District, won $10,000 playing the Dream Machine. At the Fantasy 5 Dream Machine, players have up to five chances to launch one ball at a time into one of the five bins in the pinball-type game, each bin representing a cash amount. Prizes are cumulative, but only one ball may land in each bin to claim the prize amount. Players appearing on this segment qualify by mailing an entry form to the Lottery when $5 of Fantasy 5 games are purchased on one playslip.
Armando Calderon of Fresno won $50,000 spinning the largest prize wheel in the world as this week's SPIN-SPIN-SPIN contestant. "I'm going to buy a house for my family," said Calderon. Calderon bought a "Big Spin" Scratchers ticket and it revealed three "SPIN" symbols on one ticket and this entitled him to a direct trip to the prize wheel.
"My dream is to go on a cruise and share my prize money with my 14 grandchildren," said retired Wilmington resident Miguel Quintana. He was this week's top California Gold winner with $60,000. Other California Gold contestants won a combined total of $22,500.
California Gold is one way to get to the wheel on "Big Spin 2000". The game starts with 10 contestants whose Big Spin Scratchers® tickets revealed three "TV SHOW" symbols on one ticket. When instructed, each player pushes down a "detonator" to reveal a prize ranging from $1,750 to $4,000. Two of those contestants will reveal gold nuggets and advance to the second round of play. Once there, they compete to see who can get the closest to 10 units of "gold nuggets" in their mining car without going over. The winner of this round goes to the Big Spin 2000 prize wheel, while the other contestant wins $5,000.
High Roller contestants Lynette Harris of Lancaster and Jeremy Mills of San Diego plan to use their prize money to pay off bills. Harris won $10,000, while Mills took home $5,000.
The California Lottery sells its products through a network of more than 18,000 outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52.5 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 $12 billion for public 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 |
| James Scott |
Walnut Creek |
$ 70,000 |
| Miguel Quintana |
Wilmington |
$ 60,000 |
| Armando Calderon |
Fresno |
$ 50,000 |
| Brad Arrington |
Los Angeles |
$ 10,000 |
| Lynette Harris |
Lancaster |
$ 10,000 |
| Jeremy Mills |
San Diego |
$ 5,000 |
| Other California Gold winners |
|
$ 22,500 |
| |
TOTAL $227,500 |
- # # # -