SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs Saturday, February 2, 2002, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show win a total of $237,500.
The contestant that wins a chance to spin the prize wheel from the California Gold elimination round is Tom Johnson, a men's wardrobe consultant from Long Beach, who wins $50,000. "I would like to buy a vacation home in New Mexico with this money, if I get enough, but any amount is a plus," exclaimed Johnson. The second runner-up for from the California Gold round was Michael Tom, a resident of Tranquility, who won $5,000. California Gold is another way to get to the wheel on "The Big Spin" show. 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 win a total of $140,000 on this week's show. The first Fantasy 5 contestant appearing on this week's show is Dave Duff of Palm Desert a retiree, who wins $20,000 on the Fantasy 5 Dream Machine. Mr. Duff plans to take his family on a vacation. The second Dream Machine contestant is Nick Rasic, a salesman from Glendale who won $80,000. Rasic is accompanied to the show by many members of his family and says, "With a great family like mine, a lot of my dreams have already come true, but my wife wants to go to Italy, so we will probably do that." The final Dream Machine contestant is Henderson Slaughter, a clothes designed from Los Angeles who won $40,000. Slaughter is getting married in May and plans to use his prize to help pay for his Malibu wedding. 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 only Spin-Spin-Spin contestant on this week's show is Penny Hines-Stevens, a payroll clerk from Oxnard who won $25,000. Hines-Stevens is a military wife and mother. "My husband is in the military in Japan and my son is also in the military and he is in Afghanistan," she explained. Hines-Stevens hoped to win enough money to visit her husband in Japan. 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 |
|
| Nick Rasic |
Glendale |
$80,000 |
| Thomas Johnson |
Long Beach |
$50,000 |
| Henderson Slaughter |
Los Angeles |
$40,000 |
| Penny Hines-Stevens |
Oxnard |
$25,000 |
| Dave Duff |
Palm Desert |
$20,000 |
| Other California Gold Contestants |
|
$22,500 |
| |
| |
TOTAL |
$237,500 |
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