2003 2nd Quarter Press Releases

SACRAMENTO -- California Lottery's "The Big Spin®" show airs every Saturday in twelve television markets statewide. A total of $537,500 was won by contestants who appeared on Saturday's, June 7, 2003 show.

Walter Ott

The "Fantasy 5 Dream Machine" contestants won a total of $215,000 on this week's show. The first "Fantasy 5 Dream Machine" contestant was Walter Ott, a retiree from Turlock who won $85,000. Ott who purchased his ticket at Sunny Food & Gas in Ceres said, "I plan to invest part of my winnings and buy a car." The second "Fantasy 5 Dream Machine" contestant was Larry Richey, a retiree from Pioneer who won $65,000. Richey plans to buy a motor home with his winnings. Richey purchased his ticket at Buckhorn Liquors in Pioneer. Next up at the "Fantasy 5 Dream Machine" was Kwon Quan, a sowing operator from Los Angeles who won $65,000. Quan said, "I will use this prize money to make home improvements." Quan bought her ticket at Shun Fat Supermarket in Monterey Park.

Kwon Quan

The "Fantasy 5 Dream Machine" players have up to five chances to launch a ball into one of the five bins in the pinball-type game. Each bin represents 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 contestant that won a chance to spin the prize wheel from the California Gold elimination round was Martin Cardenas, a Businessman from Salinas who won $300,000! Cardenas bought his lucky ticket at Quick Stop Market in Salinas.

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 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 locations statewide. The Lottery provides 51.9 percent of its revenues to players as prizes, 34.9 percent to public schools and 13.2 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.