SACRAMENTO – Aaron Johnson, of Chino Hills, joined the ranks of more than 1,800 California Lottery millionaires by winning $3 million on The Big Spin Show, which aired statewide August 26, 2006. It was a big money weekend as a total of $3,132,500 was given away.
“It feels great. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I have to thank God,” said Mr. Johnson, who outplayed nine other contestants in Aces High in two elimination rounds to get to the wheel. His first spin landed on a “Triple” followed by the “$1 million” slot, winning him the grand prize of $3 million. That translates into $150,000 a year, before taxes, for the next 20 years.
“I immediately called my mom with the news and she didn’t believe me,” he said. When asked if he planned 
any big purchases with his newfound wealth, Mr. Johnson replied, “There’s nothing I really want. I have everything I need in my life.” He added that he would like to go to back to school, save for retirement and invest for the future.
Mr. Johnson wasn’t the only big winner. Pichai Chanchang, from Buena Park, won $85,000 playing the Fantasy 5 Dream Machine and Celso Binongcal, of Hayward, took home $25,000 from The Big Spin prize wheel. Education receives 34 cents of every dollar players spend on Lottery products. This past year, the California Lottery contributed over $1.2 billion in supplemental funding to public education and has provided more than $1 billion annually to California schools for the last six years.
|
|
|
| Aaron Johnson |
Chino Hills |
$3,000,000 |
| Pichai Chanchang |
Buena Park |
$85,000 |
| Celso Binongcal |
Hayward |
$25,000 |
| Gerlinda Ramirez |
Torrance |
$5,000 |
| Prudencio Ramirez |
South El Monte |
$4,000 |
| Ramona Montes |
Maywood |
$2,500 |
| Francisca Mar |
Panorama City |
$2,000 |
| Margherita Maris |
Palmdale |
$2,000 |
| Bonny McCall |
Watsonville |
$1,750 |
| Julia Nichols |
Bakersfield |
$1,750 |
| Frances Delgado |
Ceres |
$1,750 |
| Fernando Leal |
Bakersfield |
$1,750 |
| |
TOTAL |
$3,132,500 |