It's the second largest Mega Millions jackpot in United States history: Mega Millions has reached the big billion. As of Friday, whoever has these winning numbers, will win at least 1.28 billion dollars before taxes:
13 36 45 57 67 MEGA # 14
“What would I do with this historic win? First of all, I’d make sure that my children are taken care of, my immediate circle family taken care of, and make smart investments to make sure that my future generations, maybe seven down the line, don’t have to work a day in their life,” Bakersfield resident Hugo Vitela said.
Vitela, who was once a drill instructor in the United States Air Force, says buying the potential billion-dollar ticket, would not be possible without his fellow veterans keeping our country free.
“How am I feeling about my chances? I don’t believe in luck. I believe in energy, and I have a lot of energy right now,” Vitela said.
And he’s not the only Bakersfield resident putting that energy--into buying a ticket. Mega Millions reports that ticket sales and lines for them are "unprecedented."
“So the last drawing we were really busy. We had lines out the door, all the way towards the back of the store,” Nimi Brar, owner of Countryside Markets said. “And then today, after it jumped, it was just even more than that. The whole day, starting this morning, when the machines turned on.”
The online queue to check the winning numbers was also overwhelmed. As 23ABC refreshed the Mega Millions website every 5 minutes starting at 8, Friday night, the site kept crashing.
And whichever store sold that golden ticket is getting a chunk of the change. and it’s no small sum.
“Half of one percent,” Brar said. “It’s capped at a million, so if someone got the whole jackpot from here, that’s the most the retailer could get.”
