2003 1st Quarter Press Releases

SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs Saturday, March 1, 2003, in twelve television markets statewide. Contestants on this week's show win a total of $347,500.

Assemblymember John Benoit presented Desert Sands Unified School District with the California Lottery's "Funds at Work" award on "The Big Spin" show. Assemblymember Benoit explains, "Desert Sands high schools use Lottery funds to add advanced placement classes to prepare students for higher education. This commitment even embraces current technology by offering students advanced courses on-line. The number of students admitted into universities has nearly doubled!"

Lottery funds are also hard at work to provide each Desert Sand's Elementary School with up to 60 hours of visual and performing art instruction. Every third grader is given a recorder to learn the basics of music. Every fourth grader attends a theatrical performance, and every school participates in a showcase student talent show. Benoit concluded, "On behalf of the California Lottery it is my privilege to present the "Lottery Funds at Work" to the Desert Sands Unified School District."

The Spin-Spin-Spin contestant on this week's show is Faramarz Khayatbashi, a truck driver from San Jose who wins $150,000! Khayatbashi explained, "I plan to pay off my house with this money." Khayatbashi purchased his ticket at 7-Eleven in Santa Clara. Khayatbashi bought a "Big Spin" Scratchers® ticket which revealed three "SPIN" symbols on one ticket, that ticket entitled Khayatbashi to a direct trip to the prize wheel.

Jodi Costanzo

Fantasy 5 Dream Machine contestants win a total of $115,000 on this week's show. The first contestant appearing on this week's show is Jodi Costanzo, a legal secretary from Santa Ana. Costanzo wins $75,000 and she explained her plans for the money, "I will buy a car for my daughter." Costanzo bought her lucky ticket at A & D Compserv., Inc. in Santa Ana. The second contestant is John Tum, a machinist engineer from Long Beach, who wins $40,000. He plans to travel with his winnings. Tum bought his ticket at Poppins in Long Beach.

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.

Gary Roberson

This week's finalist at the California Gold game is Gary Roberson, a gardener from Los Angeles, who wins $60,000. "I plan to use this money to travel to Australia," said Roberson. The second runner-up from this California Gold round is Mary Jackson, a retiree from Apple Valley, 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 retail outlets statewide. The Lottery provides 52 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34.7 percent to public schools and 13.3 percent for administrative expenses, which includes 6.8 percent for retailer commissions. Since 1985, the Lottery has raised more than $14 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.