SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs Saturday, June 23, 2001, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a total of $284,500.
San Francisco resident Linh Tran won $117,000 playing Camelot's Riches. Camelot's Riches is one of California Lottery's newest ways to get to The Big Spin. The game is played by the contestant pulling on King Arthur's sword, "Excalibur," which starts a set of two different colored balls racing down ramps to the finish line. The contestant's prize is determined by which color ball crosses the finish line first. Three rounds are played and the final prize is totaled after the three rounds have ended. Tran plans to use her prize money to continue her education and to pay off bills. She also said, "I think I will take a trip to Hawaii."
Fantasy 5TM contestants won a combined total of $85,000. Retired Fontana resident, Jose Mesa, said, "I want to make some big money." Mesa won $25,000 on the Fantasy 5 Dream Machine. Lashon McLemore of Downey won $60,000 on the Dream Machine and said she wasn't sure what she was going to do with all of her prize money.
California Gold's top winner, Avis McGurt of Sacramento won $30,000. "The first thing I want to do is put a down payment on a house," she said. "I also want to open up a small business," she added. California Gold is another way to get to the wheel on "The Big Spin". The game starts with 10 contestants whose Big Spin Scratchers® tickets each 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" prize wheel, while the other contestant wins $5,000. Other California Gold contestants won a combined total of $22,500.
Apartment Manager, Helen Zimmerman of Sacramento, was this week's Spin-Spin-Spin winner. "I'm going to spend my money on my grandchildren and great grandchildren," she said. Zimmerman bought a "Big Spin 2000" Scratchers® ticket which revealed three "SPIN" symbols on one ticket, that ticket entitled her to a direct trip to the prize wheel where she won $30,000.
The California Lottery sells its products through a network of more than 18,000 outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52.7 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34.1 percent to public schools and 13.2 percent for administrative expenses, which includes 6.9 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. "The Big Spin®" is the longest running Lottery game show in the country, airing continuously since 1985.
| NAME |
CITY |
AMOUNT |
| Linh Tran |
San Francisco |
$ 117,000 |
| Lashon McLemore |
Downey |
$ 60,000 |
| Helen Zimmerman |
Sacramento |
$ 30,000 |
| Avis McGurt |
Sacramento |
$ 30,000 |
| Jose Mesa |
Fontana |
$ 25,000 |
| Other California Gold Winners |
|
$ 22,500 |
| |
TOTAL $284,500 |
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