TOLEDO, Ohio — Scott Foufos normally doesn't play the Powerball or Mega Millons lotteries. He's won a few hundred dollars on scratch-offs, but the latest jackpots compelled him to take a chance on it.
"I don't normally play so I figured I would," Foufos said. "It's up there pretty good."
The Mega Millions jackpot of $427 million is set to have its next drawing Friday at 11 p.m. Powerball will have its next drawing Saturday for a $590 million jackpot.
Foufos is a full-time farmer and said if he won either prize, he would use the money to pay off his debts and support his family.
"We took a big hit during COVID," Foufos said. "Farm life is hard to begin with. I'm making bills but we're not going past that so, yeah, winning the lottery would be great."
Others, like Cheryl Troutman, play lottery games every day. She said she wins several thousand dollars in prize money each month from scratch-off and other games. She mostly goes to Johnny's On the Spot on Woodville Road in Oregon.
"I love the girls here," Troutman, of Waterville, said. "I love buying my lottery tickets. I like buying my scratch-offs because you win money. You get back what you put out, plus more."
Cheryl said the hundreds of millions in jackpot money would change her life, and give her fiancé a day he'll never forget.
"It would pay for our wedding," Troutman said. "We're getting married in our yard. It was supposed to be this summer but it might be next year. We've already got everything picked out and all this other stuff. It would help my family out."