Jai-Alia

For anyone who has visited a Florida jai alai arena, known as a “fronton,” it is difficult not to notice the similarities between betting on the humans playing the game as opposed to betting on horses at a racetrack. The program is similar to a “racing form” and contains information about the players’ past performances, their odds on winning, and overall statistics.

Handicappers looking for an edge can watch the players “warm up” on closed circuit television from the arena bar or from the stands. Bets can be laid off for a player to win, place (finish second), or show (finish third). Unlike other athletic competitions, jai alai is almost completely centered around betting with little or no “pure sports” appeal, even though the competitors are highly skilled and have to catch and throw a projectile that travels up to 180 miles per hour, much faster than any fastball ever pitched in any baseball game.

Merry Festival

The name “jai alai” means merry festival (‘jai’-festival and ‘alia’-merry). It originated in the Basque region of Spain by throwing a ball against a church wall. Jai alai has a decidedly Latino flavor with its appeal mostly limited to Spain, where it began, Mexico, and Florida in the United States. Jai alai frontons in Las Vegas, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have closed down in recent years because they were losing money as pari-mutuel and so-called “off track betting” (OTB) betting options have expanded.

The sport is more than 400 years old but was only introduced to the United States in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair. The game is played on a three-sided court, called a “cancha,” similar to handball or racquetball. Players wear a curved wicket basket, called a “cesta,” on one hand that is used to catch and throw a small rubber ball, called a “pelota.”

Wagering

The normal version of jai alai is played to seven points. The object of the game is to hurl the pelota against the front wall of the cesta and as close to the side wall of the court with sufficient speed and spin so that the opposition cannot catch or return it on the fly or the first bounce. The player who is up first serves the pelota to the player in the number-two position and play continues until one player wins the point.

The loser of the point goes to the end of the line. The winner then serves to the next player in line and so forth until one player accumulates seven points. At the end of the match, the top three scores pay off the win, place, and show. Normally, there are eight players or teams in each game lineup.

A variation of the game, called superfecta, is played to nine points, which drastically changes the odds. In both versions, after the first round of play, the points double for each won “point.” Computing the odds for wagering is different for each player in the lineup and the differences in the seven-point and nine-point games alter those odds. Because of this, the betting strategy for one form of the game is faulty for the other.