Man spends $600 on lottery tickets in Chino Hills as Mega Millions, Powerball jackpots soar

CHINO HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Lottery fever is sweeping through Southern California as two massive jackpots are up for grabs.

The Powerball jackpot is at an estimated $800 million, and the Mega Millions has jumped to $1.1 billion.

That's apparently enough for Frank Nava to spend $600 on lottery tickets at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills. In 2016, the 7-Eleven sold a lottery ticket worth $1.6 billion so some consider it a lucky store.

For those keeping track, because Powerball has fewer choices as far as numbers go, odds of winning are slightly better - 1 in 292 million. The odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302 million.

Kimberly Golubev, who studies pure mathematics at Caltech, says getting hit by a meteorite, being U.S. president and becoming a movie star have similar odds to winning the lottery.

Golubev added that it's probably only worth buying a ticket if the jackpot is more than $600 million based on using something called the expected value.