Gilroy planning commissioner Art Barron says he does not play
the lottery that much, and he left seven tickets he bought back in
August un-scratched for three weeks. But when he decided to uncover
the tickets, he was in for a surprise
– a free trip to the California State Lottery’s
”
Make Me a Millionaire
”
show and $64,000 in eventual winnings.
Gilroy planning commissioner Art Barron says he does not play the lottery that much, and he left seven tickets he bought back in August un-scratched for three weeks. But when he decided to uncover the tickets, he was in for a surprise – a free trip to the California State Lottery’s “Make Me a Millionaire” show and $64,000 in eventual winnings.
“I just realized (the tickets) were in the truck again,” Barron said. “The third one was the winning one.”
The Oct. 23 taping on which Barron appeared will air at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on KION – Channel 5 in Gilroy. Barron was the big winner on the show, netting $64,000, which he said he would use to pay some bills and buy a new car for his wife.
California State Lottery representatives flew Barron down to Los Angeles for the taping. His wife, daughters, brother and nephew were there to cheer him on.
“You know, it happened so fast, I kind of want to watch it again to see my reaction and everything,” Barron said.
“Make Me a Millionaire” has four separate games, and participants are not told which game they will play until taping begins, Barron said.
Barron played “Safe Cracker,” a game in which two contestants must select from a group of 10 safes, some of which contain money and others which contain none. The first contestant to select two empty safes loses and receives only half of their winnings on the show. The winning contestant either gets to keep what they earned at no risk or select from a batch of five new safes, where they will lose half of their winnings if they select even one empty safe, but double their winnings if they find a full safe.
Barron took $32,000 into the second round, then doubled it with a lucky pick.
Barron said he initially purchased his winning ticket at 7-Eleven, 162 W. 10th St. The Gilroy resident works as a program coordinator for the Mexican American Community Services Agency, an area nonprofit. He says he only occasionally plays the lottery, and he has never won anything in the past.
“It was a good surprise,” he said.
