SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "Big Spin® 2000" show airs Saturday, February 24, 2001, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a combined total of $302,500.
"I'm ready for the money, honey," said Suisun City resident Cindy MacDonald as she was waiting for her turn to play the Fantasy 5TM Dream Machine. After winning $85,000, MacDonald, a registered veterinary technician, said she plans on taking a trip, putting a down payment on a house, and buying a set of electronic drums with her prize. She also said she plans on "taking care of some critters that need a little help." To accomplish that task, MacDonald plans to donate part of her winnings to charity foundations that rescue animals from disasters and provide food and care for pets of low-income families.
Escondido resident Kristie Cook wanted her friend, Shirley Orfiteli, to serve as proxy for her and play the Fantasy 5TM Dream Machine. Orfiteli brought her Lottery Bear "Lucky" with her. Orfiteli won $70,000 for Cook. "Kristie was just too excited to play," said Orfiteli. Cook plans to buy a new truck with her prize money. 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 worth of Fantasy 5 games are purchased on one playslip.
"My son is getting married next summer and I'm going to help him buy a house," said Soila Khoury of San Francisco. Khoury won $80,000 playing the High Roller game. Evan Ivler, a student from Davis, won $5,000 and plans to use his prize money to pay bills. Players who appeared on this week's High Roller segment bought a High Roller Scratchers ticket and found three stacks of bills on their $1 ticket. The High Roller Coaster game has six valleys, and the value of those valleys change with each of three rounds. Depending on where the balls land and how the contestants decide to play, they can walk away with up to $150,000.
Before winning $40,000, Aidee Gonzalez of San Diego explained how she got her ticket. "My mom gave me the ticket and I took it home but I didn't scratch it right away. And I can't believe I'm here!" Gonzalez said, "I'd like to buy a house and maybe travel to South America." Gonzalez won $40,000 while other California Gold contestants won a total of $22,500. The California Gold segment starts with 10 contestants whose Big Spin Scratchers® tickets each revealed three "TV SHOW" symbols. 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.
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.
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