Hopefuls look to cash in on $900 million Powerball jackpot

HAVERTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Across the region, Powerball tickets were selling at a tremendous pace Saturday with some hopefuls buying hundreds of dollars worth.

Lines of ticket buyers were prevalent at a number of places. People came from near and far for a chance to play.

Frank Marrero traveled north from Chantilly, Virginia, just to buy lottery tickets.

And the record jackpot had a lot of people dreaming including Oscar Roper of South Philadelphia.

"There's a whole lot you can do with it if you hit," said Roper.

"I would retire. There is just so much you could do with all that money," said Charles Sanders of Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania.

For some people, there's no such thing as quick picks. Action News spoke with some who say there's a whole science that goes into picking those winning numbers.

"I have one that I pick on my own," said Adrian Hickman of Havertown, Pennsylvania. When asked what they are, Hickman replied, "I'm not giving out those numbers."

John Marchesano of South Philadelphia says he got specific instructions from his wife on what numbers to play.

"Well from what I could understand it, like 12-4-52 is my birthday," said Marchesano.

Still Janice Cuthbert of West Oak Lane says, "I decided it's better for me to do the quick pick."

Whatever your strategy, the odds of winning are 1 in 292.2 million.

"Maybe somebody might hit. (Well it might be you.) I certainly hope so, I hope so," said Roper.

We asked Jessica Skiano of Darby Borough if she'd take a check or cash. "I'll take it any way, you could even give me pennies," she said.

"At least if I win, I get back half of what I've spent the last 35 years," said Tom McClellan of West Philadelphia.

If nobody wins, the jackpot soars to $1.3 billion on Wednesday.