Derrek Vaughn | The Valdosta Daily TimesPlayers can choose to pick their own numbers or choose the quick-pick option which allows the system to choose a random set of numbers.

VALDOSTA — With just less than $1 billion combined on the line Friday and Saturday, some residents may be catching a case of jackpot fever.

As it currently stands, the Powerball jackpot is at $550 million, and the Mega Millions jackpot is at $418 million, according to galottery.com. In take-home cash, the numbers translate into $347.9 million for Powerball and $277 million for Mega Millions.

For Bobby Patel, owner of M&M Food Mart, there has been an uptick in the purchase of Powerball tickets in recent days, he said.

“Some people come in and buy one ticket, five tickets or 10 tickets,” he said. “There is one group of people that pool together and buy 100 tickets.”

While not everyone can pool together to buy 100 tickets, Debra Newkirk, Grace Eady, Tim Keeling, Marianne Parker, Dana Spell and Susan Gray have been pooling money and tickets for the last five years to win the Mega Millions jackpot.

Their system has changed only slightly during the years when the cost to play increased from $1 to $2, Newkirk said.

On Friday or Thursday every week, Newkirk collects $1 from each of the other players then buys a ticket that night.

But, Newkirk doesn’t always buy from the same place, she said. When she goes out of town, she buys the tickets out of town.

From there, Newkirk gives the tickets to Spell, and Spell checks the ticket numbers Monday.

The most the six have won at one time is $20, but all of them have a plan on what they will do if they win the jackpot.

Keeling said he would give to his church and buy a house in the mountains, possibly the Tennessee area so he can stay close to home. He would also buy his dream car, a Tesla, and he said he’d like to do something for the children of Lowndes County.

Gray said she would share with her family and retire, buy a beach house in Daytona, Fla., and would go to the Albuquerque, N.M., Hot Air Balloon Festival. A friend of Gray’s went to the festival and took a lot of pictures and she said it looks like a lot of fun.

Eady plans to leave Valdosta and move to Orlando, Fla., because her brother lives there. After paying her bills, Eady would buy a house and save the rest for her four children.

Parker said she would give money to her church in Ray City and travel to see her daughter in Germany.

Spell said she just wants to retire and spend time with her grandkids.

There are several ways to play Powerball and Mega Millions. Traditionally, most convenience stores sell tickets; however, both the Powerball and Mega Millions can be purchased online at galottery.com, or by downloading the Georgia Lottery app on android or Apple phones.

The next drawing for Mega Millions will be 11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, and the next drawing for Powerball will be 10:59 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6.

Mega Millions draws every Tuesday and Friday. Powerball draws every Wednesday and Saturday. For more information, visit galottery.com. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.