$4.8 Million Is Lotto Money

Al and Janet Shusta are what you call hard-core lottery players. For as long as the game has been around, the retirees have been dropping up to $300 a month on a chance at striking it rich.

So you think they would know exactly how they were going to spend their winnings after splitting Saturday’s $20-million SuperLotto jackpot with a San Fernando Valley man.

Truth is, they haven’t a clue.

They are thinking of traveling, although they have no firm plans. Their 1992 Pontiac Sunbird runs just fine, so there is no need for a new car. They have bills to pay, but certainly not $10 million worth.

They are considering a trip to Las Vegas, figuring that is as good a way as any of putting their newfound fortune to use.

“To me, it’s just like another day,” said Al Shusta, on hand with his wife Monday at the lottery office in Ventura to accept an oversized check for $4.8 million, the amount before taxes. They could have received $10 million over 26 years.

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“I don’t get too excited,” added the 62-year-old retired steakhouse chef and Army master sergeant. “But that may change once I get the real check.”

Married 38 years, the Oxnard couple never once questioned spending more than $3,000 a year over the past dozen years on the various games of chance offered by the California Lottery.

The fun was in the hunt. And the anticipation of winning.

“It just becomes habit forming,” said Janet Shusta, 66, who picked the winning numbers Saturday afternoon at Park Plaza Wine & Spirits in South Oxnard.

“You feel like if you don’t do it, your numbers are going to come up,” she said. “We even talked about it Saturday and I said, ‘Well, somebody has got to win, it might as well be me.’ ”

And so it was.

They were in bed watching television Saturday evening when they tuned in to find out the winning numbers. They had won smaller lottery prizes before, collecting $750 about five years ago and another $500 a couple years later.

They also understood that they had an 18-million-to-1 shot of hitting the SuperLotto jackpot, which by Saturday had grown to $20 million.

So when Janet Shusta matched the winning numbers against the ticket she had bought earlier in the day, she turned to her husband and said, “Be calm, I think I have a winner.”

They checked and double-checked. Then they paged their daughter, Sandy, who was just settling in to watch a movie with a group of friends. She rushed home right away, ignoring the $30 she had just blown on movie tickets and popcorn.

“You look at the odds and you say there’s no way they can win,” said Sandy Shusta, who joined her parents Monday at the lottery office. “I never thought we would be sitting here.”

In fact, compared to the rest of the state, Ventura County residents seem to be better at beating the odds when it comes to playing the lottery.

Since SuperLotto was introduced in late 1986, Ventura County residents have won 55 jackpots, totaling $740 million. That compares to 24 jackpots and $227 million in Contra Costa County, which has about the same number of people.

And in Riverside County, which has a population of more than 1 million, there have been 35 jackpots for a total of $361 million.

“Lately, you guys have been really hot,” said lottery spokeswoman Cathy Doyle Johnston, noting that two $34-million jackpots and a $19-million jackpot have been won in Ventura County over the past 16 months. “Maybe there’s something in the water.”

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The Shustas don’t know about that. For now, they’re just trying to duck in and out of the public spotlight as quickly as possible, hoping for a return to a quiet life filled with bowling and, of course, playing the lottery.

“It feels good, but it still hasn’t sunk in all the way,” Janet Shusta said.

Added her husband, “We haven’t even really discussed what we’re going to do. I guess we need to get an accountant or lawyer or something like that.”