Lotto fever sweeps Bay Area with Mega Millions jackpot at $1.28 billion
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KGO) -- For the second time this week, lotto fever swept over the Bay Area as latest Mega Millions jackpot reached a whopping $1.28 billion.
MORE: Mega Millions winning numbers drawn for $1.28B jackpot
"A billion dollars, like how could you not like try at least?"
It's the second-largest prize ever.
"All of our stores have seen an incredible amount of traffic. We're probably more than double the amount of traffic that we normally are," said David Hayer, owner of Bevbox.
At Bevbox in San Leandro, people lined all day to buy their tickets.
VIDEO: So you won the Mega Millions lottery jackpot. What happens now?
The odds of actually winning? One in over 300 million.
But that didn't stop anyone from daydreaming about what they would do if they struck it rich.
"I would definitely give a lot to my favorite charity, a few nonprofits. I'd pay for my daughter and my son's college education," said lotto player Kendra Lewis.
RELATED: Hundreds of Nevada residents wait in long lines at CA border to buy Mega Millions tickets
Although some were more certain than others.
"I don't even know what I would do with 1.3 billion. I really don't know," Hayer said.
And if you ever are one of those lucky few winners, experts say it's important to make a plan, protecting your money after some well-deserved celebration.
"They should hire a financial advisor. Whether that be a CPA or tax attorney, or maybe even both of those and a financial advisor," said Caroline Chen, a tax professor at SJSU.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
