‘Big Spin’ Dry Spell Has Lottery in a Slump and Officials Nervous

It has been five weeks since anyone landed the grand prize at the California State Lottery’s “Big Spin,” and lottery officials are hoping the dry spell won’t mean dwindling ticket sales.

“I’m getting nervous. We’re in a slump. We need a boost--sales aren’t what they should be,” said Bob Taylor, communications manager for the lottery.

When the lottery started last fall, sales averaged $10 million per day. Now they’re down to $3 million, said John Schade, assistant director of public affairs.

Schade admitted that there’s “a sense of disappointment” when no one walks off stage with the grand prize. But he said he isn’t alarmed about the drop in sales because “it’s a normal pattern for state lotteries.”

As he was getting ready to go on the air Saturday, Geoff Edwards, master of ceremonies for the big spin, jokingly said, “If no one lands the big prize, I’ll be tarred and feathered.”

Fifteen people tried for the big prize--which now stands at $9.3 million--and failed. Although no one landed the top prize, three people won $100,000 or more. Alma June Taylor, 58, won yesterday’s biggest prize of $1 million. Taylor, a retired bakery owner from Weed, Calif., said ticket sales in her hometown have dwindled recently because there has been so few winners in Siskyou County.

“They stopped believing in the lottery,” she said. “Now, they’ll have to believe. They’ll say, ‘If June can get it, anyone can.’ ”