Grandmother Wins Jackpot : Lottery: A Buena Park woman, 69, has big plans for the $1 million she won with one Scratcher ticket and a Big Spin. She figures the prize will get her to Australia and her grandsons educated, for starters.
Shirley Warner was looking at the $100 winning lottery ticket on her dresser last week when she got a phone call telling her that she had been picked to have a shot at millions of dollars on the Lottery’s Big Spin.
At first, Warner thought the call was a joke. But Saturday morning, the 69-year-old grandmother spun the wheel and won the grand prize--$1 million.
“I haven’t believed it yet,” Warner said. “I think I’m about 3 feet off the ground.”
Warner said she and her husband, William, 74, will spend some of the money on a vacation to Florida and the East Coast to see their family, then they will pay for the college educations of their grandsons, Christopher, 17, and Bryan, 20.
And, after bills are paid and the excitement settles, Warner said, she and her husband will take the “big trip . . . the dream vacation.”
“I’ve always said I wanted to hold a Koala bear,” she said, laughing. “We’re heading to Australia!”
Warner said she buys one Scratcher Lottery ticket every week when she goes grocery shopping.
In April, she finally got lucky when she scratched a ticket and found a $100 prize, qualifying her for a drawing to appear on the Big Spin. At the time, Warner said, she was interested only in her $100 prize.
“I just thought, ‘What a good return on a dollar. I’ll take the $100 and buy a new outfit or something,’ ” said Warner, the retired manager of a retail store.
The chance of winning the $1-million grand prize in the Scratcher game is 1 in 2.4 million, according to John Schade with the state Lottery office. One player in 4,800 wins the $100 prize, and 1 in 500 players qualifies for the Big Spin. On that show, the chances of hitting the $1-million slot on the wheel are eight in 100.
“And, to think,” Warner mused, “I thought I was lucky to win the $100 and didn’t believe them when they told me I had the chance of winning $1 million.”
