SACRAMENTO, February 3, 2005 – Lottery officials are again looking in Orange County for the latest California Lottery SuperLOTTO Plus winner. A lucky winning streak has hit Orange County as Lottery players look over their tickets again for the winning combination—2, 20, 44, 13, 9 and Mega number 27. “This is the 11th time in just a little more than one year that a lucky player from Orange County has matched the winning combination,” said Chon Gutierrez, Interim Director of the California State Lottery. “It’s a true winning streak for the lucky players in Orange County!”
Since November of 2003 there have been 11 jackpots sold and won in Orange County totaling $348 million in SuperLOTTO Plus jackpot prize winnings. The latest $16 million SuperLOTTO Plus jackpot was sold at Rainer Pure Water, 5015 W Edinger Av#D, Santa Ana, 92704. The retailer will receive a half of one percent of the jackpot or $80,000 as a commission for selling the winning ticket. In January 2005, Colin McLean claimed an $81 million SuperLOTTO Plus jackpot and in January 2004 Pamela Bazan won $88 million, the largest California Lottery jackpot purchased in Orange County.
A single jackpot winner of $16 million choosing annual payments would receive 26 annual payments with the first payment being approximately $400,000 and the 26th payment being more than $816,000 before federal tax withholding of 25%. The estimated cash value would equal roughly half of the jackpot or $8 million, the amount the Lottery would invest to payout the jackpot prize over 26 years.
Since the California Lottery began twenty years ago in 1985, more than 150 players from Orange County have won a prize of one million or more. Sales from Orange County total $3.5 billion. Prizes won by players in the county total $2.3 billion and education contributions from Orange County Lottery sales exceed $1.2 billion.