NEW YORK — With only hours left before Friday’s MegaMillions drawing, players dropped into Manny’s Deli and Grill on Myrtle Avenue to buy a ticket or two. 

Some also left with tickets for Saturday’s Powerball drawing in the hopes they might hit that jackpot, too.


What You Need To Know

  • Combined, the winnings from the latest Powerball and MegaMillions games had reached more than $1 billion by Friday night

  • After a string of small winners, Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot reached a whopping $750 million, and the Powerball jackpot had swelled to more than $600 million

  • According to Hitesh Patel of Manny’s Deli and Grill in Ridgewood, he’s seen less public interest in lottery tickets since the pandemic hit

Combined, the winnings from both games have reached more than $1 billion. The size of the prize money was enough to bring in some first-time players. One first-timer bought a ticket with her roommate and they made a pact to share the prize. 

After a string of small winners, Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot reached a whopping $750 million, and the Powerball jackpot had swelled to more than $600 million. Winning either prize would be life-changing and career-changing.

Customers had more than a few ideas on how they could spend that kind of money, but none of them mentioned any extravagant purchases. Instead, they had more practical plans for how they’d use the cash. Several of them even had the same answer:

“Definitely what I would do is help my family and get me a nice home,” said lottery player Kendrick Jimenez.

Which may not be all that surprising considering the state of the country. With many Americans still impacted economically by the coronavirus pandemic, this lottery retailer says business has been slower than normal. 

“People buy, but it's not like it used to be. People used to buy $20, $50, but now it's kind of slow $2, $5,” said Hitesh Patel of Manny’s Deli and Grill.

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