2 Brothers Parlay $110 Into a Million : Lottery: One has to sell his car for money to eat while in Sacramento and the other, facing bankruptcy, beats the incredibly high odds on the Big Spin.

Rick W. Turpit was in such bad financial shape that when he was selected for the California Lottery’s Big Spin two weeks ago, his brother was forced to sell a 1977 Ford LTD for $110 so they could eat during their trip to Sacramento.

It turned out to be a wise investment for Turpit, 31, a La Habra machinist who was about to file for bankruptcy, and his brother, Larry, 33 and on disability. Not only did Rick Turpit win enough money to repay the $110, he won enough to buy his brother a new car--and then some.

Turpit won $1 million on the Dec. 15 show, defeating odds of more than 26 million to 1.

Each year for the next 20 years, Turpit, who bets about $5 weekly on various lottery games, will receive an annual, after-taxes check of $40,000. He received the first check in the mail Tuesday and then went to the Harbor Mart Liquor Store, where his brother had purchased the winning, $1 scratch-off ticket, for a ceremony with lottery officials.

Turpit, who plans to continue working, said he was about $10,000 in debt and a lawyer recently told him that he should file for bankruptcy.

“We were broke basically,” he said. “The lottery said they would fly me up, so we bought a two-for-one airplane ticket so Larry could go. And they paid for our hotel and our (ground) transportation. But we wouldn’t have had any money to eat on unless we sold the car. And, yes, I plan to buy (Larry) a new car.”

Turpit’s luck began to turn a month ago, when he asked his brother to bring home a lottery ticket. The ticket showed that Turpit was eligible for the weekly drawing to choose six contestants for the lottery’s Big Spin television show.

He mailed in the ticket and, against odds of 666,667 to 1, he was selected for the show. Geoff Edwards, the Big Spin’s host, phoned with the good news.

“I got off the phone and started jumping around and touching the ceiling of my apartment,” Turpit said. “My brother, he was so nervous that week he was in the hospital for a day with stomach problems.”

On the show, Edwards told Turpit he had a choice. He could accept $40,000 and not play the game, or he could play, betting that he would win only $20,000. If he played the game, there was a 50% chance that he would win $20,000, or a 1 in 28 chance that he would win $1 million.

“But there was no doubt we were going to play,” Turpit said. “My brother and I had already talked about it and we decided this would be the only chance we would ever have to win $1 million, so we decided to go for it.”

The brothers said Tuesday that they were going to their mother’s home in Oregon for Christmas and plan to lavish her with gifts. When they return, Turpit plans to pay off his creditors and buy the car for his brother.

As for the rest, “I’m going to invest it, put some in the bank,” Turpit said. “One thing is for sure, I’m not going to blow it.”