Twice a week Johnny Collins makes the drive across the Mississippi River Bridge from Warren County to Delta, La., with fresh hope that this time will be his lucky trip.

Collins makes his bi-weekly pilgrimage from Mississippi to Louisiana hoping to strike gold with a winning lottery ticket spending about $50 each trip.

“You can’t win if you don’t play,” Collins said Friday as he stood in line at Delta Discount.

Friday’s Mega Million jackpot reached $450 million Friday afternoon and the jackpot for Saturday’s Powerball drawing had climbed to $570 million leading to long lines at Delta Discount as hopefuls bet their money that they would be one of the lucky winners.

As the debate on whether to add a lottery in Mississippi resumes during the 2018 legislative session, Collins was joined in line by people from Jackson, Pearl, Richland and more.

“A lot, I think everybody is,” Delta Discount manager Venita Miller said of how many of the store’s lottery customers make the drive over from Mississippi. “On a regular lottery night it is good we still get the business, but when it is way up it is a whole lot more.”

Leo Smith said he makes the drive over from Madison a couple times a week and typically buys tickets for the next couple drawings spending about $20 a time. He said if Mississippi added the lottery he would probably play even more than he does now.

“I wouldn’t have to take this long drive,” Smith said. “Probably every time the lottery comes around and I don’t win.”

Jack Hughes said he makes the drive from Richland to Delta whenever the jackpot gets high, but he would play a lot more frequently if he could buy tickets without driving an hour.

“I have a home in Florida and I play the lottery all the time. I am up here working part-time in Richland and I just enjoy the lottery. On days off, at home I can drive like a block to get tickets,” Hughes said.

Hughes said he typically spends $50-100 when he plays and that his wife will buy extra tickets back home in Florida.

“All the car tags are Mississippi tags in the parking lot. A lot of revenue is lost,” Hughes said. 

Verna White, who plays the lottery about twice a month, said “of course” Mississippi needs to add it to help fix the issues that are plaguing Jackson where she lives.

“Our streets, right now the water pressure is low, the streets need to be fixed,” she said. “It is just a lot of stuff that needs to be done in Jackson. The streets are raggedly, the water is all over the place.”

If Mississippi does add a lottery, White said she would probably go from playing twice a month to at least once a week and asked why she keeps playing, White’s answer was the same as all those waiting in line.

“For the money,” she said.