Los Alamitos Man Wins $100,000 in Lottery

A retired school teacher from Los Alamitos won $100,000 in the California Lottery’s Big Spin show Saturday, but nobody claimed the progressive jackpot, which opens next week at $6.77 million.

Norman Odom, 70, whose hobbies in retirement are photography and free-lance writing, was the top winner among 10 holders of lucky tickets who spun the state’s wheel of fortune on the 39th Big Spin Show.

The first spin of the day resulted in a $50,000 prize, but lottery officials say they won’t know until next week who gets the money because ownership of the winning ticket is in dispute.

Judy McCormick, a Sacramento model, spun the wheel as a proxy for whoever eventually will be declared the ticket’s owner.

The lottery’s press release for Saturday’s show said the first participant would be Angie De La Rosa, 35, a registered nurse from Carson. However, lottery spokesman John Schade said ownership of the ticket has been questioned.

Schade declined to give details but said a decision is expected in a few days.

McCormick, who does the drawings for “second chance” winners on the show, was used as a proxy to avoid confusion in the buildup of the progressive jackpot, which increases each time a participant tries for it and fails to win.

Altogether, 58 consecutive finalists have tried for the jackpot and missed since June 21, when Paul D. Spencer, 64, a free-lance writer from Saratoga, won $15.22 million.

The jackpot reverts to $3 million after somebody wins it. It then increases by $65,000 each time a player tries for it and fails.

Three of the stops on the 100-stop wheel are designated for the Lottery’s biggest prize.

The eight other participants in Saturday’s show won minimum prizes of $10,000 each.