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03.02.2001
LOTTO FEVER FACTS - JACKPOT FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2001 $89 MILLION

The jackpot for Saturday, March 3, 2001 is $89 million and is the largest lottery jackpot in the United States this week (even larger than the multi-state lotteries like Powerball and The Big Game).
With at least 34% of all Lottery sales going to education, the sales from this jackpot (and its 8 rolls) will generate an estimated $51 million for public education.
The retailer who sells the winning ticket wins too. The retailer receives a jackpot bonus equal to 1/2 of 1% of the prize amount. A single winning ticket would yield $445,000 for the retailer.
This jackpot is the 3rd largest in California Lottery history and the largest since April, 1998.
For an $89 million jackpot, annual payments would begin at just over $2.2 million and will graduate to more than $4.4 million by the 26th year (before taxes).
- If the winner chose the cash option, the winner would receive a lump sum of roughly half the jackpot amount or about $44 million (which is the amount the Lottery invests in U.S. Treasury Bonds to pay the prize over time).
The fiscal year that ended June 30, 2000 was the best year of the decade for the Lottery:
- Sales were $2.59 billion
- Education contribution was over $945 million
- Scratchers sales at $1.17 billion were highest since the first year of the Lottery, when there were no other games
- Most ever paid to Lottery retailers: $179.5 million in total retailer compensation
- Share of sales devoted to game and operating costs were lowest in 10 years: 13.2% of sales
Jackpot and Winner History
- The largest California jackpot ever was $118.8 million on April 17, 1991, split by ten winning tickets and shared by a total of 54 winners. This jackpot holds the record for the largest single-state Lottery jackpot.
- The second largest California jackpot was $104 million on April 8, 1998, split by 3 winning tickets and shared by a total of 24 winners.
- The biggest individual prizewinner in California Lottery history was Juanita Colla of San Francisco, who won $88 million on August 16, 2000.
SuperLotto Plus tickets are sold at more than 18,000 retail locations statewide.
Odds of winning the SuperLotto Plus jackpot are 1 in 41 million. Overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 23.
Since the Lottery began in 1985 there have been 1,615 winners who have won a prize of a million dollars or more.

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2001 1st Quarter Press Releases: Article