CALIFORNIA LOTTOPALOOZA: $125 MILLION WANNABE WINNERS WISHING.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Some would take a trip around the world, others would fix up the house and still others would give millions to their friends if they won tonight's $125 million California Lottery jackpot.

Whether the prize is big or small, Jack Wolford has the same plan each week when he plays the lotto - the spoils would go to a school, training young men for the ministry.

``God gives it to ya, and I'm going to give it back to him,'' said Wolford, who helps support the Woodland Hills-based Latin American Christian Institute, which trains evangelical ministers. ``I'll take a little for myself; the rest of it will go to charity.''

The lotto fever that struck over the weekend with Saturday's $88 million jackpot has heated up in the days since, as no one had a winning ticket, creating a bigger bounty.

The prize is second only to last summer's record $141 million jackpot, which reigns as the granddaddy of all since the game began.

That's a first-time payment of $3.1 million, followed by payouts each year for a cash value of $62.5 million, lotto officials said. For public schools, it brings $74 million.

With money like that at stake, it's no wonder the little peach and white tickets were flying out of stores Tuesday afternoon - $1.4 million in sales between noon and 1 p.m., or about $23,000 a minute, lotto officials said.

Big begets big, and the blockbuster prize leaves even the lotto wallflowers looking to take a spin.

``When the jackpot gets this way you have those playing who don't normally play,'' said lotto spokeswoman Cathy Doyle Johnston. ``It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.''

They also attributed the large jackpot to a game change in 2000 that created bigger prizes.

Randa Sifri thought of the winnings that could result if she bought a winning ticket at her son's Ventura Boulevard liquor store - the retailer selling the winning ticket receives half of 1 percent of the winnings.

``First, I want to help the people,'' said Sifri at Primarily Wine & Spirits, citing worries about the poor and her kids' college fund. ``Whatever I have left, it's OK.''

Reseda resident Cory Merrill doesn't usually play - though her husband and the neighbor across the street have a running pledge to split their winnings - but she couldn't resist on Tuesday.

``I think it would be nice,'' said Merrill, who couldn't imagine picking up and selling her home, moving the three kids to an exotic Hawaiian getaway, and instead figures she would just continue her life with a little more ease if she were the winner. ``It would be an extra.''

But as high as the fever runs, a few holdouts seem to let the frenzy pass them by.

Bartender Andrea Garcia said she just can't see dropping even a few dollars on a chance.

``I just don't enjoy losing,'' she said. ``The chances are so slim it's like, `Oh, right. Whatever.''

BIG DREAMS

Top 10 plans for spending a lotto jackpot, according to California Lottery survey:

1. Vacation or travel

2. Buy a car

3. Help children or grandchildren, including establishing a college fund

4. Buy a home

5. Pay off debt

6. Invest

7. Help parents

8. Quit work or retire

9. Donate part to charity

10. Buy a boat!

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BIG DREAMS (see text)