>> reporter: william alvarez has been a wait irat bobby van's steakhouse in down -- a waiter at bobby van's steakhouse in downtown washington for five years. he says working here has always been enjoyable but never more so than the past six days. >> we joke around, a little more jovial. >> reporter: you see, william and 13 co-workers including the restaurant's general manager jon simkins pooled their resources, bought a few lottery tickets and won $10,000 in last friday's mega millions drawing. >> i found out about 5:00 saturday they call med here from the restaurant. i thought -- called me here from the restaurant. i thought they were joking. >> reporter: at risk of seeming greedy, they're now hoping for an even bigger prize, in fact, the largest prize in american lottery history. >> i hope lightning strikes twice. >> reporter: $540 million counting. >> i think we have a better chance because last time we put $5 in and this time we each put $20. >> reporter: simkins and his co-workers aren't the only ones fantasizing today about becoming multi-millionaires when the mega millions numb

>> reporter: william alvarez has been a waiter at bobby van's steakhouse in downtown washington the past five years. he says working here has always been enjoyable, but never more so than the past six days. >> we joke around. we're a little more jovial. >> reporter: you see, william and 13 co-workers pooled their resources, bought a few lottery tickets and won $10,000 in last friday's mega millions drawing. >> i found ought about 5:00 saturday. they called me here from the restaurant. i thought they were joking. >> reporter: at the risk of seeming greedy they're now hoping for an even bigger prize, in fact the largest prize in american lottery history. >> i hope lightning strikes twice. >> reporter: $540 million counting. >> i think we have a better chance because last time we put $5 in and this time we each put $20 in. >> reporter: matt jablow, 9 news now. >> if you buy a ticket, you have the option of lump sum or annual payments. the payments would be almost $21 million for the next 26 years. that's sweet. if you opt for the lump sum, it works out to 389 million before taxes. wow. coll

. >> reporter: william alvarez has been a waiter at bobby van's steakhouse in downtown washington the past five years. he says working here has always been enjoyable. >> it's a cool place to work. >> reporter: but never more so than the past six days. >> we joke around. we're a little more jovial. >> reporter: you see, william and 13 co-workers including the restaurant general manager john simki ns pooled their resources, bought a few lottery tickets and won $10,000 in last friday's drawing. >> they called me from the restaurant and i thought they were joking. i looked up the numbers myself and sure enough, we won. >> reporter: at the risk of seeming greedy, they're now hoping for an even bigger prize, in fact, the largest prize in american lottery history. >> i hope lightning strikes twice of. >> reporter: $540 million counting. >> i think we have a better chance because last time we put $5 in and this time we put in $20. >> reporter: simkins and his co-workers aren't the only ones fantasizing today about becoming multi-millionaire when the mega millions numbers are called out tomorr