2009 3rd Quarter Press Releases: Article

SACRAMENTO – Brian Blades only had one thing on his mind when he appeared on the “Make Me a Millionaire” show this week, which quickly turned into 1.8 million things. Blades won the $1.8 million jackpot, becoming the fourth millionaire on the California Lottery’s game show.

In the “Millionaire” game, two misses or “strikes” ends the game and the player loses half their prize money. Frequently, players with one strike don’t chance getting a second one and quit playing so they can keep all the money they have won up to that point.

Blades’ appearance was especially exciting right from the start. He got his first strike immediately but elected to keep on playing. “I couldn’t believe I started off with a strike,” he said. “But I was going to go all the way, no matter what! If I got the second strike, that would have been okay too.” But he didn’t get a second strike. He is the first player on “Make Me a Millionaire” who played the game to the end with one strike against him. He is also the first male millionaire on the show.

As the owner of his own computer repair business, Blades said the economy has hit him especially hard. “I got a second job to help support my family so this will help us a lot, especially with a baby on the way!” Blades’ entire family was there to cheer him on, including his girlfriend, children and parents. He plans to buy a house for his growing family and start a college fund for his two younger children. “I also want to help my family out. They have done a lot for me in the past,” Blades said.

The “Millionaire” segment of the show begins with a randomly selected number between 1 and 50. The contestant then has to guess whether the next number will be higher or lower. Blades played a perfect game by correctly guessing higher or lower 10 times in a row to spell out “M-I-L-L-I-O-N-A-I-R-E.”

Here is a list of some of this week’s other top winners, including Blades:

For more information about the new show, visit www.calottery.com/millionaire. For high resolution photos, please contact (916) 324-9639 or e-mail newsroom@calottery.com.

More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, Lottery players have contributed more than $21 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $56 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.6 billion in compensation since 1985.