Jai-Alai on RTN

[Dave Schwartz]

I just discovered that my 80 channels of horse racing also includes Miami Jai-Alai! How will I ever get anything done now?

How long has this been goin' on?

I just find that game so exciting. I like the greyhounds as well. Guess I'd better stay away from those channels or I'll never finish another project!

[highnote]

I used to attend and bet Jai Alai when it was played in Connecticut. Lotto and Indian casinos killed the sport here. I used to enjoy watching the games.

My friend in Ft. Lauderdale took me to some matches last year. The fronton was very run down. Sad.

If the Jai Alai people would promote the sport it would probably be quite popular. It's exiting to watch when you have a bet on a player or a team.


$3 minimum bet was kind of weird. They should have made the minimums smaller. I think that was a big negative -- especially to novices. Believe it or not, young people who have never bet have an aversion to losing money from gambling. So if you make it less painful to lose people can learn to play the game.

[lamboguy]

i hate to admit this, but the only pick 6 i ever hit in my entire life was at palm beach hai-alai. it was in 1982, i had 25 partners and we won by playing all with all with all with all with all with all. after the smoke cleared we came home with about $15k each and after that they capped the pick 6 to $100k then it was a giveaway.

[slew101]

I used to attend the jai alai games in Hartford as well back in the 1980s. I really didn't like it but it was the only gambling in the area before they put in the TeleTrack in New Haven. Even at the Teletrack, they only had Yonkers at night so it wasn't worth the longer drive.

Do you remember the players' strike? They had replacement players in there and that was the start of the downfall. The crowds went away and never came back once the casinos opened and OTB expanded with the teletheater in Windsor Locks.

And I hated that $3 minimum bet.

Last fronton open in NE was the one in Newport, which was open during the summer. But even that closed, and now it''s an OTB and Slots Parlor.

I used to attend and bet Jai Alai when it was played in Connecticut. Lotto and Indian casinos killed the sport here. I used to enjoy watching the games.

My friend in Ft. Lauderdale took me to some matches last year. The fronton was very run down. Sad.

If the Jai Alai people would promote the sport it would probably be quite popular. It's exiting to watch when you have a bet on a player or a team.


$3 minimum bet was kind of weird. They should have made the minimums smaller. I think that was a big negative -- especially to novices. Believe it or not, young people who have never bet have an aversion to losing money from gambling. So if you make it less painful to lose people can learn to play the game.

[highnote]

I don't remember the players strike. What year was that?

I got interested in Jai Alai after reading "Calculated Bets", but I was still in my early days of learning about horses, so I never had time to pursue Jai Alai betting systems. I'm sure it was beatable.

A colleague of mine swears the games in Milford were fixed. He said his ex-girlfriend who knew an executive there took him to the matches occasionally. He said the executive told him who was going to win certain matches. I have no way of knowing whether this is true or not. I am skeptical, but also understand how easy it would be to fix a match.

I only went to the matches in Milford and Bridgeport. I kind of enjoyed it. I don't remember ever seeing a big crowd there. I think it was more fun to handicap than dog races. I only watched a few dog races in Bridgeport after Jai Alai closed.

It's a shame that Jai Alai didn't fight for a share of slots the way racetracks in other states did.

I can't imagine Jai Alai in Florida can last much longer judging from the size of the crowds I saw there unless they take in a lot of money over the internet.

Didn't they play Jai Alai in Vegas and Mexico years ago? Do they still?



I used to attend the jai alai games in Hartford as well back in the 1980s. I really didn't like it but it was the only gambling in the area before they put in the TeleTrack in New Haven. Even at the Teletrack, they only had Yonkers at night so it wasn't worth the longer drive.

Do you remember the players' strike? They had replacement players in there and that was the start of the downfall. The crowds went away and never came back once the casinos opened and OTB expanded with the teletheater in Windsor Locks.

And I hated that $3 minimum bet.

Last fronton open in NE was the one in Newport, which was open during the summer. But even that closed, and now it''s an OTB and Slots Parlor.

[Dave Schwartz]

We actually had a Jai-Alai fronton in Reno at the old MGM. When Bally's took over the removed it.

Mexico City and Miami always had the best players in the old days. Dania had a really small court and it made the weaker players shine.


Dave

[offtrack]

My favorite airplane trailer advertising - over Gulfstream Park during meet - :

.....Get Even at Dania Jai-Alai.....

[onefast99]

In the late 70's and early 80's we had a place at the Sea Air Towers in Hollywood Fla. We went to Dania jai alai at least 3x a week. I remember going on a Saturday night and there was a contest between the best Miami players and the best Dania players. In the singles match Joey was the first to serve, he went thru the first round winning on his serve every single time. The number 2 player Juaristi asked the official to change the ball, Joey served and once again it looked as if it was a perfect serve, Juaristi let the ball come off the back wall and took it in his cesta dropped to the ground and fired a shot off the front wall that hugged the side wall hit the bottom of the back wall and didn't bounce, Joey didn't have a chance. One of the nicest plays I ever saw. Joey did eventually comeback on the court and won.
Last March I went there to see if it was the same and it was very run down with maybe 150 people watching.

[slew101]

It was around 1988. Not sure if the Florida frontons also went on strike, but all the Connecticut ones did. It lasted a long time, I think at least a year. The sport was already starting to die, and that just pushed it along. By the time the players came back, the crowds were gone.

One quick story on Hartford jail alai. That was the first gambling place I ever snuck into at 16 and 17. One of my older friends loved it, so we'd go down with him on a Friday or Saturday night. When you entered, there were two turnstiles where you paid your $3 entry fee. Those people never even looked past the cash. But inside, there was a cop watching the entrance for under-age people.

My buddy said "don't worry." He went 3 people ahead of us and distracted the cop with a bogus question like "can I go to my car later and get back in without paying again?" Meanwhile, we head for the escalater and sit in the third tier seats for the rest of the night. Our older friend made our bets.

I also used to go to Hinsdale Greyhound Park at 17. That was easy, because there was no age limit to get in, just to bet. Never had a problem inside that place.

[QUOTE=swetyejohn]I don't remember the players strike. What year was that?

[highnote]

I can see why a strike would kill an already dying sport. Probably not the best time to strike.

I was at Dania Jai Alai 2 years ago this month. It was pretty dark and shabby and barely anyone there. I'd still like to bet it if I could watch it and get a rebate.

Lucky Schwartzy gets it on his RTN feed! I wonder if there's an feed online? Any one know?

[slew101]

Another problem with jai alai is it's terrible on TV. There is no good place to put the camera, so they have it in back. You can't see the ball when it goes into the backcourt.

I can see why a strike would kill an already dying sport. Probably not the best time to strike.

I was at Dania Jai Alai 2 years ago this month. It was pretty dark and shabby and barely anyone there. I'd still like to bet it if I could watch it and get a rebate.

Lucky Schwartzy gets it on his RTN feed! I wonder if there's an feed online? Any one know?

[cj]

Looks like you can watch online too:

http://www.onlineracing.tv/miami/index2.php

and here:

http://www.dania-jai-alai.com

[Dave Schwartz]

Another problem with jai alai is it's terrible on TV. There is no good place to put the camera, so they have it in back. You can't see the ball when it goes into the backcourt.

The RTN feed seems to have multiple camera angles and they shift with the play.

[Dick Schmidt]

Never seen a jai alai match in person and have some doubts about betting on one. I keep remembering the old gambler's adage:

"Never bet on anything that can talk."

Dick

”And St. Attila raised the hand grenade up on high saying: "Oh Lord, bless this thy Holy hand grenade, that with it I may blowest thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy."

[Robert Fischer]

Never seen a jai alai match in person and have some doubts about betting on one. I keep remembering the old gambler's adage:

"Never bet on anything that can talk."

Dick


i remember going to the OTB in daytona beach, and my company being hooked on the jai-alai, may have been Dania. Showed me a few basics.

It looked like a game i may have been good at handicapping, given my sports background, but also seemed to be pretty fixable.

[highnote]

Looks like you can watch online too:

http://www.onlineracing.tv/miami/index2.php

and here:

http://www.dania-jai-alai.com


Cool! Some decent stats, too. Looks like Erik is the best player at Dania. Should be possible to develop some sort of system given their post positions and finish positions.

I know that the best players are often given high post positions and the weaker players are given lower post positions. That way the weaker players get a chance to score some points before they have to face the better players.

How do you make speed figures, though? :D

[onefast99]

Cool! Some decent stats, too. Looks like Erik is the best player at Dania. Should be possible to develop some sort of system given their post positions and finish positions.

I know that the best players are often given high post positions and the weaker players are given lower post positions. That way the weaker players get a chance to score some points before they have to face the better players.

How do you make speed figures, though? :D
The weaker players play earlier in the night, they try to earn there way to the later games.

[RaceBookJoe]

Great...now i have to dust off all of my old "Gambling Times" and "Gambling Illustrated" magazines to read the Jai Alai articles. rbj

[highnote]

The weaker players play earlier in the night, they try to earn there way to the later games.

I haven't bet on a jai alai game in many years, so I can't remember much about the way it's run.

Do the better players only play in the later games?

Is there more money in the later games?

[Dave Schwartz]

No, the better GAMES are scheduled later in the evening.

The teams' post positions are (supposedly) randomly drawn.

There are marked advantages (as I recall) to inside posts because of the second round.

[onefast99]

I haven't bet on a jai alai game in many years, so I can't remember much about the way it's run.

Do the better players only play in the later games?

Is there more money in the later games?
The better players come on in the later games, the better players also have a chance at more monies by playing in the singles and doubles championships as well as the always popular competition between two frontons.