2002 2nd Quarter Press Releases: Article

SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs Saturday, May 11, 2002, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show win a total of $265,000.

Jesus Alcaraz

Jesus Alcaraz, a gardener from Reseda, is the contestant this week on Camelot's Riches and wins $92,500! Alcaraz purchased his winning ticket at The Liquor Chest in Agoura Hills. Alcaraz plans to spend his prize on paying bills and taking a long vacation to Mexico. Camelot's Riches is one of the California Lottery's newest ways to get to The Big Spin. The game is played by pulling on King Arthur's sword, "Excalibur," which starts a set of two different colored balls racing down the ramps to the finish line. The contestant's prize is decided 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.

Roy Redenbaugh

Fantasy 5 Dream Machine contestants win a total of $120,000 on this week's show. The first contestant appearing on this week's show is Roy Redenbaugh, a railroad conductor from San Dimas. Redenbaugh wins $60,000 and he explained his plans for this money, "I'll use it for my granddaughter's education and for my retirement." Redenbaugh bought his lucky ticket at Mins Arco in Pomona. Next up at the Dream Machine is Edward Russell, a retired truck driver from Fairfield who bought his ticket at Major Market in Fairfield also wins $60,000. "I'm retired so I'll use this money to make my retirement better," said Russell. 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.

Henry Avalos

The contestant that wins a chance to spin the prize wheel from the California Gold elimination round is Henry Avalos, a cow breeder from Corcoran, who wins $30,000. "I would like to use this money to open a trust fund for my grandkids," said Avalos who purchased his ticket at Orange Avenue Market in Corcoran. The second runner-up from this California Gold round is Mary Hoang, a claims adjuster from Tustin, who wins $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.

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.