BUTTONWILLOW MAN WINS MORE THAN $2 MILLION

12.08.2001
BUTTONWILLOW MAN WINS MORE THAN $2 MILLION
Californians Win $2,372,500 on This Week's Show

SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs Saturday, December 8, 2001, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show won a total of $2,372,500.

"Twice As Grand" contestant Marcial Carrera, a tractor driver from Buttonwillow, was the grand prize winner of the "Twice As Grand" game, one of The Big Spin show's newest game. Carrera won $2,000 a week for 20 years; winning a total grand prize of over $2 million. When he won the $2 million top prize, Carrera said, "I am so excited! Thank you so much! I am so happy!" The other two contestants each won $25,000. Carrera was grinning from ear to ear as his family joined him on stage as he showed off the oversized check for $2,080,000.

This week's finalist at the California Gold game was Marco Olazabal, a car detailer from Los Angeles who won $75,000. Olazabal said, "I was here in 1995 and I won $60,000." Once at the wheel, Olazabal continued, "I am so excited to be here and I'm so happy. I want to help my family and buy a house with my prize." 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.

Fantasy 5 contestants won a total of $145,000 on this week's show. The first Fantasy 5 contestant was Don Davis, a retired real estate agent from Santa Rosa who won $25,000. Davis said, "I plan to buy a new car." Next up at the Dream Machine was Kevin Veselic, a fork lift driver from Moreno Valley who won $60,000. Veselic said, "I want to buy a new truck and take all my people to dinner," as he motioned to the large group of friends and family in the audience. The last Fantasy 5 Dream Machine contestant was Greg Lyons, a food service worker from Los Angeles who won $60,000. He told show host Maiquel Alejo, "I plan n taking my wife and her friends to the Lakers game and paying off a few bills." 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.

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 $13 billion for public schools. The 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
Marcial Carrera	Buttonwillow	$2,080,000
Marco Olazabal	Los Angeles	$75,000
Kevin Veselic	Moreno Valley	$60,000
Greg Lyons	Los Angeles	$60,000
Don Davis	Santa Rosa	$25,000
Other Twice As Grand Contestants		$25,000
Other California Gold Contestants		$22,500

	TOTAL	$2,372,500

- # # # -

2001 4th Quarter Press Releases: Article