Sacramento -- Lottery officials announced today that the winner of the $89 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot prize for Saturday, March 3, 2001, claimed the prize in Sacramento today. Sang Cho who purchased her winning Quick Pick at a 7-Eleven in Moraga, on Saturday, March 3, 2001 arrived at the Sacramento District Office around noon to stake her claim on the $89 million prize. Cho who purchased five dollars of Quick Picks, became the largest individual winner in the California Lottery's 15-year history. Sales for the $89 million jackpot raised an additional $51 million for the state's public schools.
On Sunday morning after reading the winning numbers in the San Francisco Chronicle, Cho said, "I couldn't believe it. I jumped up and down and my blood pressure went up to 200. Luckily my husband is patient and cool because I went crazy!" Cho who buys tickets only when the jackpot gets "very large" chose the cash option and will receive $45.1 million before taxes. "This is great for my son who is just getting ready to start college," said Cho.
The numbers drawn for the Lottery's third largest jackpot were 1, 8, 19, 33, 34 and the MEGA number was 23. The winning ticket was sold at 7 Eleven, 633 Moraga Road, in Moraga, California. The retailer will receive one half of one percent of $89 million or $445,000 for selling the winning combination. The $89 million is the largest single ticket prize won in the California Lottery's history. The biggest individual prize winner up until Saturday night was Juanita Colla of San Francisco who won $88 million on August 16, 2000.
The $89 million jackpot is the third largest in California Lottery history and the largest SuperLotto prize since April 8, 1998, when the second largest jackpot of $104 million was split by 3 winning tickets and 24 winners. The largest California jackpot was $118.8 million on April 17, 1991, split by ten winning tickets and shared by a total of 54 winners. This $118.8 jackpot holds the record for the largest single-state Lottery jackpot in the United States.
A total of 2,069,744 tickets won prizes in the SuperLotto Plus drawing of March 3, 2001. Thirty-two tickets won the second prize category of $23,277 for matching 5 numbers without the MEGA number. Two hundred and two tickets won $1,843 by matching four numbers plus the MEGA number.
Since the California Lottery began in 1985, the Lottery has contributed $12 billion to California's public schools.
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