Category: Susie

Championship Series A Jai-Alai H2H – Doubles Week 11 Update

Championship Series A Jai-Alai H2H – Doubles Week 11 Update

There are 2 days remaining in the Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H Series A season with 7 matches on Sunday, July 10 and the final 7 matches on Monday, July 11. Each team is scheduled to play 2-3 matches over the final 2 days. The new season (Series B) will start Tuesday, July 12 for Singles and Sunday, July 17 for Doubles. The season is scheduled to run through Tuesday, September 21.  Note this is week 10 of doubles but week 11 of the overall Championship Series A.

1st Place: Carballo-Kubala, 13-5 (72.2%) remain in first place. They went 2-2 with wins against Correa-Manny (6-3, 6-3) and Diaz-Goixerri (6-5, 3-6, 6-2) while losing to Bueno-Benny (3-6, 2-6) and Joseph-Manu (2-6, 6-5, 1-6). They have 2 matches remaining against Jeden-Nicolas and Flores-Aratz. One win will earn them a first-place finish. However, if they lose both matches things could get interesting since the 3 teams fighting for second-place are within 2.3 percentage points of each other.

2nd Place: Bueno-Benny, 11-7 (61.1%) moved into second place by going 3-1 with wins against CRB-Douglas (6-3, 6-2), Carballo-Kubala (6-3, 6-2) and Flores-Aratz (5-6, 6-5, 6-2). Their only loss was to Jairo-Ben (3-6, 4-6). They have 2 matches remaining against Diaz-Goixerri and Inaki-Roque (sub).

3rd Place: Robin-Julen, 9-6 (60.0%) dropped to third by going 2-2. They earned wins over Flores-Aratz (6-0, 6-4) and CRB-Douglas (6-3, 6-4). They lost to Diaz-Goixerri (1-6, 6-1, 4-6) and Joseph-Manu (2-6, 5-6). They have 3 matches remaining against Jairo-Ben, Correa-Manny and Jeden-Nicolas.

4th Place: Jairo-Ben, 10-7 (58.8%) moved into fourth place with a 3-1 record for the week. They earned wins over Jeden-Nicolas (6-4, 6-5), Inaki-Roque (sub) (5-6, 6-3, 6-2) and Bueno-Benny (6-3, 6-4). Their only loss was to CRB-Douglas (6-5, 1-6, 0-6). They have 3 matches remaining against Correa-Manny, Robin-Julen and Joseph-Manu.

5th Place: Diaz-Goixerri, 10-8 (55.6%) went 2-2 for the week with wins over Inaki-Roque (sub) (6-1, 6-5) and Robin-Julen (6-1, 1=6, 6-4). They lost to Correa-Manny (6-2, 2-6, 4-6) and Carballo-Kubala (5-6, 6-3, 2-6).  They have 2 matches remaining against Bueno-Benny and Joseph-Manu.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The charts below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 10 Update

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 10 Update

Week 10 saw 3 days of doubles action. Week 11 will feature 3 days of doubles and the H2H Championship Season – Series A will conclude with 2 days of doubles in week 12 ending on Monday, July 11. Have no fear, it looks like Series – B will start on Tuesday, July 12 and run through Tuesday, September 21.

Over the 3 days of Week 10 play, teams played anywhere from 2-5 matches.

1st Place: Carballo-Kubala, 11-3 (78.6%) moved into first place with a 4-0 record. They scored victories over Robin-Julen (F), Inaki-Roque (sub) (6-4, 6-5), CRB-Douglas (6-5, 6-2) and Jairo-Ben (6-2, 6-5).

2nd Place: Robin-Julen, 7-4 (63.6%) dropped to second place with forfeitures to Carballo-Kubala and Bueno-Benny. The match against Inaki-Roque (sub) was cancelled since Inaki-Roque were already subbing for Ikeda-Bradley.

3rd Place Tie: Bueno-Benny, 8-6 (57.1%) are tied for third with Diaz-Goixerri. Bueno-Benny went 4-1 scoring 2 wins over Correa-Manny (4-6, 6-2, 6-3) and (6-3, 6-3), Robin-Julen (F) and Jeden-Nicolas (6-1, 6-4). Bueno-Benny lost to Joseph-Manu (4-6, 4-6).

3rd Place Tie: Diaz-Goixerri, 8-6 (57.1%) went 3-1 with wins over Jeden-Nicolas (6-5, 5-6, 6-3), CRB-Douglas (1-6, 6-3, 6-2) and Flores-Aratz (5-6, 6-1, 6-2). They lost to Jairo-Ben (5-6, 6-1, 3-6). All 4 of their matches went 3 sets that were packed with ‘jai’light reel material.

5th Place Tie: CRB-Douglas, 7-6 (53.8%) are tied for fifth with Jairo-Ben. CRB-Douglas went 1-2 with a win over Correa-Manny (6-2, 6-5). Their losses were to Diaz-Goixerri (6-1, 3-6, 2-6) and Carballo-Kubala (5-6, 2-6).

5th Place Tie: Jairo-Ben, 7-6 (53.8%) went 2-1 with wins against Flores-Aratz (6-5, 6-5) and Diaz-Goixerri (6-5, 1-6, 6-3). Carballo-Kubala handed then a (2-6, 5-6) loss.

Flores-Aratz (0-14) dropped 4 matches but you can see their improvement each time they play. Of the 10 sets they played in Week 10, they pushed the score to 5-5 in 5 of those sets.

Week 11 is scheduled to have 7 doubles matches each day. Play begins at 5pm EST on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Lucky Bettor Nails all 8-Winners for $5,000 Mighty Ocho Jackpot

Lucky Bettor Nails all 8-Winners for $5,000 Mighty Ocho Jackpot

The Jackpot Force-Outs proved lucky for one bettor for the Tuesday, July 28th performance at Magic City Fronton in Miami, Florida.  The bettor hit all (8) winners on their Mighty Ocho ticket to take home the $5,000 guaranteed Jai-Alai Jackpot Wager.  This is the second time in Magic City Jai-Alai history where a bettor has correctly selected all 8-winners on this “mighty difficult” $1.00 Pick 8 wager.

The winning numbers in the sequence were “ 1-2-2-3-2-2-2-3” for races 1-8.  Historically, posts 1-2-3 win the most games for the round-robin format of the Spectacular-7 Jai-Alai games which are featured at Magic City’s 1:30-pm Pelota games, which are games featuring the traditional pari-mutuel wagering bets commonly seen at horse tracks throughout the country.  Statistically, there are 16,777,216 possibilities of outcomes for a Pick 8 wager with 8-betting entries each game, however, many of them are virtually statistically impossible due to the round-robin format plus the fact there are some players who are much stronger than others.

Congratulations to the lucky bettor or bettors scoring this historical win!

Note from the will-pays photo below that posts 3 & 4, Goixerri and Douglas, were both live for 8/8 going into the final leg, the result of the game was 3-4-2.

JACKPOT FORCE-OUTS at Magic City Fronton on Tuesday, June 28!  Don’t miss-out!

JACKPOT FORCE-OUTS at Magic City Fronton on Tuesday, June 28! Don’t miss-out!

Mandatory payouts (aka Force-Outs) of both the Jai-5 and Mighty Ocho jackpots are happening on Tuesday, June 28:

Jai-5 is guaranteed to pay out $2,000 MINIMUM to the ticket holder(s) with the most winners correctly selected for races 3-7 for this popular wager! The Jai-5 is a $1 Pick 5 Jackpot Wager.

The Mighty Ocho, a $1 Pick 8 Jackpot Wager, is also guaranteed to pay out a whopping $5,000 MINIMUM to the ticket holder(s) with the most winners correctly selected for races 1-8 on this “mighty” challenging wager!

Put your handicapping skills to test against other bettors on Force-Out Day! Only at Magic City Fronton!!

Magic City Jai-Alai Sports Betting is On the Rise at BetRivers!

Magic City Jai-Alai Sports Betting is On the Rise at BetRivers!

Check out this June 8 article on the USBETS website where Magic City COO, Scott Savin said the following, “BetRivers executives have told him that wagering is up 30% this season and that the sport has moved into its top 10 by handle, ahead of some of the smaller sports such as Major League Lacrosse, rugby, and darts and just behind the Canadian Football League.”

CLICK HERE for the full USBETS article

Congratulations Magic City Fronton!!

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 9 Update

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 9 Update

Week 9 provided great Jai-Alai action and concluded the Singles Groups I and II play.

Congratulations to Goixerri winning Group I Singles with an undefeated record of 11-0 and to Ikeda, also going undefeated at 12-0 to win Group II Singles. Nicolas placed second in Group I at 6-2 while RonRon earned second in Group II with an impressive 12-2 record.

For Sunday’s doubles matches, the first-place team of Robin-Julen improved to 7-2 by earning 2 wins on the day. First with a victory over Correa-Manny (6-3, 6-2), then winning a 3 set match against Jeden-Nicolas (2-6, 6-3, 6-4). Next, Jairo-Ben needed 3 sets to beat Joseph-Manu (6-4, 1-6, 6-4). Joseph injured his lower left leg in the match and forfeited game 5 to Diaz-Goixerri. The team of Inaki-Roque who subbed for Ikeda-Bradley continued their great play with 2 wins on the day. First by beating CRB-Douglas (6-1, 3-6, 6-5) and in game 7, took a 2 set win over Bueno-Benny (6-2, 6-4). Inaki-Roque are 8-2 as the doubles sub team. The second-place team of Carballo-Kubala improved to 7-3 with a well played match against Flores-Aratz (6-4, 6-5).

In Group I singles on Monday, Aratz earned his second win of the season with a 2 set win over Benny (6-4, 6-3). Jairo continued with his more aggressive play with a 2 set win over Manny (6-2, 6-3). Jairo later played Aratz to earn his second win of the day (6-1, 6-1). Jairo lost just 7 points in 4 sets.  Inaki used 3 sets for a win of Manu (3-6, 6-3, 6-3). With the score 5-3 in favor of Inaki in the third set, Manu injured his ankle but was able to complete the match; however, Carballo subbed for him in game 6 against Douglas. Carballo earned the win (6-4, 2-6, 6-5). First place Goixerri took on Inaki and needed 2 sets for the win (6-5, 6-5). In the second set, Goixerri was down 3-5 and scored the next 3 points for the win. Goixerri finished in first place with an 11-0 record.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, Jeden subbed for Bradley and beat Correa (6-4, 6-4). Correa was injured and forfeited to Kubala in game 4. Carballo had an impressive day with a 2 set win against Ben (6-3, 6-0) and later a 2 set with over Jeden (subbing for Bradley) (6-2, 6-2). As Jairo did on Monday, Carballo lost just 7 points in 4 sets. RonRon handled Bueno in 2 sets (6-3, 6-2). Bueno and Ben went 3 sets in an excellent match, with Bueno winning (4-6, 6-3, 6-5). Ben was up 4-1 in the third set and doubled-faulted and unable to regain the lead. In the final match of the day, first and second place went at it with Ikeda winning in 2 sets (6-3, 6-3), earning him first place with a record of 12-0.

Week 9 saw just two 6 point runs from Inaki-Roque and Carballo.

Week 10 is scheduled to have 7 doubles matches each day. Play begins at 5pm EST on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 8 Update

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 8 Update

Week 8 continued to impress us with great Jai-Alai action.

For Sunday’s doubles matches, Correa-Manny ran off 10 straight points to beat Jairo-Ben in straight sets (6-0, 6-3). Unfortunately, later in game 5, Correa was injured and forced to retire against Inaki-Roque who subbed for Ikeda-Bradley. In game 2, Carballo-Kubala ran off 6 points in the first set but came back to earn the win over Jeden-Nicolas in a low scoring 3 set match (6-0, 1-6, 6-2). Joseph-Manu needed 3 sets to earn a win over Flores-Aratz (6-4, 3-6, 6-3). Diaz-Goixerri handled Bueno-Benny in 2 sets (6-2, 6-2). Jairo-Ben outlasted Robin-Julen in an excellent 3 set match (4-6, 6-5, 6-3). In game 7, CRB-Douglas handed Flores-Aratz a loss (6-2, 3-6, 6-3).

Robin-Julen lead the doubles standing at 5-2 (71.4%) with Carballo-Kubala and CRB-Douglas tied for second at 6-3 (66.7%). Nicolas-Jeden are also at 66.7% with a record of 4-2. While Inaki-Roque’s record does not count in the official standings, they are an impressive 6-2 (75.0%) as subs.

In Group I singles on Monday, Goixerri handled Douglas in 2 sets (6-3, 6-4) to move to 10-0 in the Group I standings. Nicolas opened up with 4 straight points in his win over Aratz (6-2, 6-5). Manny ripped 6 straight points in the first set against Julen and earned a victory in 3 sets (6-0, 3-6, 6-5). Manu took a 2 set win over Benny (6-5, 6-3). Nicolas earned his second win of the day with a 3 set win over Jairo (4-6, 6-4, 6-2) improving to 5-2. In the final match of the day, Inaki took 3 sets to earn a win over Manny (6-3, 1-6, 6-5) to improve to 6-3.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, RonRon improved to 11-1 with wins over Ben (6-2, 6-2) and Kubala (6-0, 6-2). Bueno beat Jeden who subbed for Bradley (6-3, 6-2). Carballo needed 2 sets for a win over Bueno (6-3, 6-4) and Ben earned a 2 set win over Jeden subbing for Bradley (6-3, 6-5). In the second set, Jeden had a 5-3 lead but Ben came back with 3 unanswered points for the win. Due to an injury, Correa forfeited giving first place Ikeda (11-0) and Carballo (8-4) wins.

Week 8 saw 6 point runs from: Correa-Manny, Carballo-Kubala, Inaki-Roque, Manny and RonRon.

Week 9 kicks-off on Father’s Day, June 19 and 7-matches are scheduled each day this week. Play begins at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 7 Update

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 7 Update

Week 7 was yet again, another amazing week of Jai-Alai action!

For Sunday’s doubles matches, the team of CRB-Douglas improved to 5-3 with straight set wins over Robin-Julen (6-3, 6-2) and Jeden-Nicolas (6-1, 6-4). Carballo-Kubala are also at 5-3 with a 3 set win over Correa-Manny (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), and then a 3 set loss to Diaz-Goixerri with Diaz-Goixerri winning (6-2, 4-6, 6-5). Inaki-Roque subbed for Ikeda-Bradley and earned a victory over Flores-Aratz in 2 sets (6-4, 6-3). As subs, Inaki-Roque are an impressive 5-2. Robin-Julen outlasted Joseph-Manu (6-3, 5-6, 6-4). Robin-Julen went 1-1 for the day and lead the doubles standings with a 5-1 record. Jairo-Ben took the first set over Bueno-Benny 6-0 and won the second set 6-4.

In Group I singles on Monday, 4 of the 6 matches went 3 sets. Manu needed 2 sets to beat Aratz (6-3, 6-3). It took 3 sets for Benny to earn a victory over Manny (6-5, 5-6, 6-2). Douglas beat Julen in 2 sets (6-5, 6-2). Goixerri remains undefeated at 9-0 with a 3 set win over Nicolas (5-6, 6-3, 6-3). Inaki earned a 3 set win over Jairo (2-6, 6-3, 6-5). Monday ended with Benny earning his second win of the day with a victory over Aratz (6-2, 3-6, 6-5). Benny and Inaki are tied for third place in the standings at 5-3.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, RonRon improved to a leading record of 10-0 with straight set wins over Bueno (6-5, 6-4) and Ben (6-3, 6-3). Correa took a 2 set win over Jeden who subbed for Bradley (6-1, 6-4). Kubala earned a win against Ben (6-2, 6-5) and later lost to Ikeda, with Ikeda winning (6-3, 5-6, 6-3). Carballo remains in third place with a 6-4 record with a win over Correa (6-1, 6-3). Carballo threw a drop shot from the 11 line in the first set that was amazing.

Week 7 saw 6 point runs from: Diaz-Goixerri, CRB-Douglas, Jairo-Ben and Correa.

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H begins at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays.  

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

WSC Qualifier #3 Match Scores for June 8 at Magic City

WSC Qualifier #3 Match Scores for June 8 at Magic City

Round 1:

Ikeda-Manny beat Correa-Amigorena:  6-4, 6-3

Jairo-Nicolas beat Robin-Urbieta:  6-3, 6-3

Semi-Final:

Ikeda-Manny beat Zulaika-Arrieta:  6-3, 6-3

Jairo-Nicolas beat Carballo-Arta:  6-1, 6-2

Final:

Ikeda-Manny beat Jairo-Nicolas:  6-5, 5-6, 6-4

(this was a great match between these two teams, be sure to watch the replay)

Both teams proceed to WSC Finals at Magic City

Ikeda-Manny won $2,000

Jairo-Nicolas won $1,000

Note:  the teams of Zulaika-Arrieta and Carballo-Arta had a Bye in Round 1

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 6 Update

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H – Week 6 Update

Week 6 was yet again, another amazing week of Jai-Alai H2H action.

Sunday’s doubles matches started with Jeden-Nicolas improving to 4-0 by taking a straight set win over Jairo-Ben (6-5, 6-4). Next up was CRB-Douglas winning in 3 sets against Joseph-Manu (6-3, 4-6, 6-3). Bueno-Benny lost 3 points in a straight set victory over Flores-Aratz (6-2, 6-1). Robin-Julen earned their 4th win to be tied with Jeden-Nicolas in 1st place with a straight set win over Diaz-Goixerri (6-4, 6-5). Robin-Julen have won all 8 sets they have played to earn their 4-0 record. It took 3 sets for Carballo-Kubala to earn a win over Joseph-Manu (6-4, 4-6, 6-3). Inaki-Roque subbed for Ikeda-Bradley, earning a win in straight sets win against Jairo-Ben (6-1, 6-4). The day ended with Correa-Manny beating Diaz-Goixerri (6-2, 6-4).

In Group I singles on Monday, it took Aratz 3 sets to earn his 1st win of the season by beating Manny (6-3, 3-6, 6-4). Benny took Julen in 2 sets (6-3, 6-4). Goixerri improved to 9-0 with a 3 set win over Inaki (6-3, 3-6, 6-3), which may be the best doubles match we have seen. Goixerri went on to another win by beating Manu (6-1, 6-5). Douglas picked up his 5th win, beating Jairo (6-4, 6-3). Nicolas earned a win over Julen (3-6, 6-4, 6-5). In the 3rd set, Nicolas jumped out to a 5-1 lead with Julen pushing it to 5-5. Nicolas won the well-played final point to earn the victory.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, Ikeda earned 2 wins to improve to 9-0. In Ikeda’s 1st match against Jeden (subbing for Bradley), he ran off a 6 point run and won (6-0, 6-3). It took Ikeda 3 sets and 32 points to remain undefeated with a well-played match against Bueno (6-4, 5-6, 6-5). Kubala earned 2 wins with a 3 set, 32 point win over Bueno (6-5, 4-6, 6-5). That was Bueno’s 2nd 3 set, 32 point match of the day. 8 of the 16 sets played on Tuesday went the maximum 11 points.

Championship Season Jai-Alai H2H begins at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays. And there is more – the World Super Court Qualifier III will be played Wednesday, June 8 at the Magic City Fronton. You can watch the WSC action at watchjaialai.com or on the free Jai Channel app.

Sunday’s Jai-Alai H2H matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Spinner Returns to Pelota Games on Sunday, June 5th!

Spinner Returns to Pelota Games on Sunday, June 5th!

SayHiLi welcomes back Spinner to the Pelota games this coming Sunday as he makes his 2022 debut in the mid-singles games 3 & 4. Spinner has been sidelined since 11/1/2021 when he was playing H2H doubles and suffered an achilles injury.

The doubles team of Cool Fitness-Spinner were in serious contention for 2nd place in the 3rd Doubles Tournament of 2021 when the injury occurred. Spinner’s 2021 singles game record at the time of his injury was a very respectable 14.1% wins and 48.7% ITM.

Welcome Back Spinner!

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 5 Update

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 5 Update

Week 5 of Championship Series H2H started with 7 doubles matches. The team of Inaki-Roque subbed for Jeden-Nicolas and handed Correa-Manny (3-1) their first loss of the season in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. Bueno-Benny won in 3 sets against CRB-Douglas 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Robin-Julen (3-0) remain undefeated with a straight set win over Flores-Aratz 6-4, 6-4. Ikeda-Bradley earned their first win with a 3 set victory against Diaz-Goixerri 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Carballo-Kubala took a 3 set win over Bueno-Benny 4-6, 6-5, 6-3. Jairo-Ben handed CRB-Douglas their second loss of the day 6-4, 6-5 while Joseph-Manu got their first win in straight sets against Ikeda-Bradley.

In Group I singles on Monday, Julen won in 3 sets over Aratz 3-6, 6-4, 6-5. Manu earned a victory in straight sets over Carballo who subbed for Nicolas 6-1, 6-2. Carballo later went on to a straight set win over Manny 6-2, 6-4. Douglas beat Inaki in a great 2 set match 6-5, 6-5. Goixerri improved to 6-0 with a 3 set win over Julen 6-5, 5-6, 6-4. And to finish the day, Benny won in straight sets over Jairo 6-5, 6-4.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, Ben beat Bradley in 3 sets 6-2, 5-6, 6-3. Carballo won in straight sets over Bueno 6-4, 6-2. RonRon improved to 6-1 with a straight set win over Kubala 6-4, 6-2. Ikeda improved to 7-0 in a thrilling 2 set match against Correa 6-5, 6-5. Bradley retired after suffering a knee injury, giving Bueno the win. The day ended with a hard-fought match between Kubala and Ben, with Ben winning 6-4, 6-4.

Carballo, Inaki-Roque and Ikeda-Bradley each had a 6 point run to win sets in their matches.

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H matches begin at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx20” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $20. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the Jai-Alai H2H action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx20” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Lucky Bettor Nails Jai5 for $3,227 on Sunday!

Lucky Bettor Nails Jai5 for $3,227 on Sunday!

Magic City’s popular Jai5 wager was hit by one lucky bettor for $3,227 at Sunday’s matinee performance at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida.  This was the first time this Pick 5 Jackpot wager had been hit during the regular Magic City pelota meet this year which started on May 1 and the 123rd time this Jackpot wager has been won by a bettor with the ONLY winning ticket since the wager started in 2019.

The sequence 2-2-1-2-6 for pelota games 3-7 was won by RonRon in games 3 and 4, Juice-Manu in game 5 doubles, Goixerri in game 6 followed by the doubles team of CRB-Douglas in game 7.

Congratulations to the lucky winner!

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 4 Update

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 4 Update

Week 4 started with 7 doubles matches. The team of Inaki-Roque subbed for Jeden-Nicolas and outlasted Joseph-Manu in a 30 point, 3 set match 2-6, 6-5, 5-6. In game 6, Bueno-Benny beat Inaki-Roque 6-1, 6-4. CRB-Douglas beat Carballo-Kubala in straight sets 6-5, 6-2. Carballo-Kubala played Jairo-Ben in game 5 in a relatively low scoring 3 set match, winning 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. In another low scoring 3 set match, Diaz-Goixerri beat Flores-Aratz 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. Correa-Manny later earned a victory over Flores-Aratz 6-1, 6-1. Robin-Julen won in 2 sets over Ikeda-Bradley 6-2, 6-4.

In Group I singles on Monday, Inaki took a victory over Benny 6-1, 6-1. Manny outlasted Douglas for a win in 3 sets 3-6, 6-2, 6-5. Manu was victorious over Carballo who subbed for Nicolas 6-4, 6-1. Jairo beat Aratz in 3 sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-5. Goixerri beat Douglas 6-4, 6-3. And finishing Monday’s play, Julen beat Manny 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, RonRon gave up 9 total points by beating Bradley 6-0, 6-3, then beating Correa 6-5, 6-1 in game 5. Correa picked up a win over Bueno 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Ikeda earned wins against Ben 6-4, 6-1 and Carballo 6-4, 2-6, 6-5. Carballo beat Kubala 6-3, 6-5.

Diaz-Goixerri, Inaki, Manu and RonRon each had a 6 point run to win sets in their matches.

Goixerri is leading Group I Singles with a record of 5-0, while Ikeda leads Group II with a 6-0 record. For Doubles, Correa-Manny and Jeden-Nicolas are at the top at 3-0 followed by Robin-Julen with a 2-0 record.

Play begins at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays. Sunday, May 15, will feature 7 doubles matches.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx10” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $10. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx10” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 3 Update

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H – Week 3 Update

Week 3 of Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H matches started with 4 of the 6 doubles matches going 3 sets. Carballo-Kubala beat Inaki-Roque who subbed for Ikeda-Bradley 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Jeden-Nicolas improved to 3-0 by beating Flores-Aratz 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 while Correa-Manny improved to 2-0 with a win over Joseph-Manu 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. CRB-Douglas came back after a first set loss to Diaz-Goixerri to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Diaz-Goixerri played again with a straight set win over Jairo-Ben 6-1, 6-0. Robin-Julen picked up a win in straight sets over Bueno-Benny 6-5, 6-3.

In Group I singles on Monday, Inaki handed Aratz his third loss 6-3, 6-3. Goixerri improved to 4-0 with a win over Benny 6-1, 6-2. Jairo got his first win by beating Julen 6-3, 6-2. Manny was victorious over Carballo who subbed for Manu with a win in straight sets 6-5, 6-1. Nicolas played well against Inaki to win in 3 sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-5. The final match on Monday featured Benny and Douglas. Benny took the first set 6-5, then Douglas won the second set 6-1. The third set ended with Benny up 4-1, then down 5-4 and then Benny won 6-5 for his first win of the season.

In Group II singles on Tuesday, Ikeda improved to 4-0 with victories over Kubala 5-6, 6-2, 6-3 and RonRon 6-4, 6-4. Carballo also picked up two wins by beating Ben 6-2, 6-5 and Bradley 6-5, 6-5. Kubala outlasted Correa in 3 sets 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 while Ben finished the day with a win over Bueno 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H matches begins at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays. Sunday, May 15, will feature 7 doubles matches.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx10” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $10. This is open for all matches throughout the evening. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx10” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the Championship Series Jai-Alai H2H standings in a couple of different formats.

Jai-Alai H2H is Back – Week 2 Update

Jai-Alai H2H is Back – Week 2 Update

After a great season of Battle Court action, Jai-Alai H2H Championship Series started up on Monday, April 18 with Singles Group 1 play followed by Singles Group II play on Tuesday, April 19. After a short break, the first full week of play started on Sunday, May 1.

H2H Championship Series matches are at 5pm EST with Doubles on Sundays, Singles Group I on Mondays and Singles Group II on Tuesdays.

Sunday’s matches are open to the public plus there is a new promotion “H2Hx10” for those in attendance. All you have to do is pick the winner of each match and the number of sets (either 2 or 3). If you get both right, you win $10. This is open for all matches throughout the evening, so if there are 6-matches, you could win $60 max. Each match is individual, so if you pick incorrectly, you still have a chance in the remaining matches.  You don’t have to be there for all the matches.

For the ‘week’, Douglas went 3-0 with wins over Aratz (6-3, 5-6, 6-0), Benny (5-6, 6-4, 6-2) and Nicolas (6-4, 6-2). Goixerri also earned three singles victories with wins over Jairo (6-4, 6-3), Aratz (6-3, 6-0) and Manny (6-5, 6-3). After being down 3-0 in the first set against Aratz, Goixerri ran off 12 straight points to win the match. RonRon won 3 matches with wins over Correa (6-1, 3-6, 6-3), Bradley (2-6, 6-3, 6-5) and Carballo (2-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Inaki went undefeated with wins over Julen (6-1, 3-6, 6-2) and Jairo (6-4, 6-3). Ikeda went undefeated as well with victories over Carballo (6-2, 6-2) and Ben (6-2, 4-6, 6-3). Bueno was 2-1 with wins over Correa (6-1, 4-6, 6-2) and Jeden who subbed for Ikeda (6-5, 2-6, 6-1). Kubala went 2-1 with wins over Bradley (6-2, 6-5) and Bueno (6-5, 4-6, 6-3).

The doubles team of Jeden-Nicolas went 2-0 with wins against Ikeda-Bradley (6-5, 6-0) and Diaz-Goixerri (3-6, 6-5, 6-3). The sub team of Inaki-Roque earned a win over Carballo-Kubala (6-2, 6-3) after some very strong doubles play in games 5 and 7 of the earlier Pelota games.

You may have noticed a new player on the roster – Chris Flores #92 will pair with Aratz in Doubles. Chris previously played at Calder and is excited to be making his Magic City debut. Welcome Flores.

You can watch the Jai-Alai H2H action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. Remember, you can visit the Magic City Jai-Alai fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person and a chance to win some money in the new “H2Hx10” promotion. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for a recap of the action.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the Jai-Alai H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear El Barba and Paulie entertain viewers with their insight and answer questions from the live chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the standings in a couple of different formats.

Magic City Jai-Alai Betting Pools on the Rise!

Magic City Jai-Alai Betting Pools on the Rise!

Week 1 of the regular Magic City Jai-Alai Pelota game season just started on May 1 and betting pools are on the rise.  Game 8 of Tuesday’s May 3rd performance had the largest trifecta pool in the last 3-years with $2,862 wagered on trifectas that game.  The average trifecta pool for all games on Tuesday was $2,481 while the week 1 average was $2,315.  Even some Exacta pools were topping $600 which is very comparable to the Dania fronton to the north when they were last open in November 2021.

The average $1.00 trifecta prices are also notable for 2022 with a $1.00 average trifecta price of $253 for the 256-games YTD which is impressive in the Jai-Alai world.  The addition of seven former Dania players to the Magic City Jai-Alai roster has made handicapping more challenging which is likely the reason for the larger trifecta prices.

The Jai-ly popular Jai-5 wager at Magic City Jai-Alai, a $1.00 Pick 5 Jackpot wager in games 3-7, continues to be more difficult to win as well.  So far in 2022, a single Jackpot winner with all 5-winners correctly selected has only happened twice in 32-performances.  The Jai-5 Jackpot is currently at $1102.80 for Sunday’s performance, however, the $2,000 minimum guaranteed payoff is still in place for a single winning ticket with all 5-games correctly selected.  Since the introduction of the Jai-5 wager during the 2019 Jai-Alai season, the Jai-5 has paid-out the Jackpot to a single winner 122-times.  The largest Jai-5 payoff in Magic City Jai-Alai history is a whopping $27,348 on April 5, 2021.

The Pelota games with pari-mutuel wagering continue on Sunday, May 8th at 1:30-pm EST.  Fans in live attendance that day receive a FREE Magic City Hustle T-shirt while supplies last.  Also, those in attendance are eligible for the FREE H2H x10 Promo for each of the H2H matches at the 5-pm EST Jai-Alai H2H games.  Sunday features six exciting H2H Doubles matches.  If you haven’t yet seen these H2H matches, you are really missing out!

New In-House Jai-Alai H2H Promo:  H2H x10

New In-House Jai-Alai H2H Promo:  H2H x10

There is a NEW promo for Jai-Alai H2H at Magic City on Sundays now called “H2H x10.”  This promo replaces the 5 AT 5 promo for the live H2H attendees and works like this and starts May 1:

Basically how it works is you will pick the winner of each match AND the amount of sets each match will go (2 or 3 sets).  If you get BOTH right, you win $10.  This is open for all matches throughout the evening, so if there are 6-matches, you can walk away with $60 max.  This way, if someone comes late, they can still participate.  So each match is an individual “bet.”

Another great promo offered by Magic City Jai-Alai!

Steve M

Magic City Jai-Alai Pelota Game Entries are Up for Sunday May 1

Magic City Jai-Alai Pelota Game Entries are Up for Sunday May 1

Entries are up, actually been up for 2-days now for the upcoming Sunday through Tuesday pelota performances at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami. CLICK HERE in case you don’t know where to find them.

There’s only one roster change for pelota games; Vuelo is no longer on the roster. Cool Fitness is back from his hamstring injury. There is a new player, Chris Flores, on the H2H roster. Chris learned to play at N. Miami Amateur and played two seasons at Calder Jai-Alai.

Get ready for 6-7 games each day of H2H matches after the Pelota games. H2H games start at 5-pm EST and if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the weekly fantasy contest. The contest has the same prize structure however it got harder as it’s a Pick 18 to Pick 21 each week for the fantasy contest. Look under Other Links here at SayHiLi for more info on the two different weekly contests.

Magic City 2022 Short-Season Final Jai-Alai Pelota Report

Magic City 2022 Short-Season Final Jai-Alai Pelota Report

The 2022 short-season ended on Tuesday 4/19 at the Magic City Jai-Alai fronton in Miami, Florida at the Magic City Casino near Miami International Airport. Here is the full report for this incredible Jai-Alai Pelota game meet in the magical city!

Carballo nailed the Golden Cesta Award for the most singles wins in the final week with 4-wins while Nicolas was 2nd with 3-wins. This was Carballo’s 2nd GCA in the last 3-weeks and his 8th GCA since the start of the 2019 season. He is only headed in total Golden Cesta Awards by Douglas with 34 and RonRon with 16. Congratulations Carballo! Click Here for tables showing Golden Cesta Award Stats including the number of Golden Cesta Awards for each player along with a listing of each weekly winner of this award.

The 2022 Singles Championship leader with the most singles wins thru the end of the short-season was Carballo with 20-wins. He currently leads Bueno and Goixerri, both with 15-wins. Ikeda is next with 11-wins, followed by Bradley / Douglas / Jeden with 10-wins each. The Singles Championship continues for all of 2022 which ends in late November. Click Here for weekly updates on the 2022 SIngles Championship.

The 2022 1st Doubles Tournament for the intense Jai-Alai Pelota doubles games ended on Monday 4/17. The team of Ikeda-Bradley took home first prize of $5,000 with 9-wins while Juice-Manu took 2nd place honors and a check for $2,500 with 7-wins. Click Here for weekly updates on the 2022 Doubles Tournaments. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the Doubles Tournaments page for a historical chart showing Doubles Tournament winners along with stats at Magic City Jai-Alai.

The combined singles and doubles game stats for all players is shown for the Jai-Alai traditionalists who are used to seeing stats in this format. Carballo leads 2022 with 27-wins with Goixerri 2nd with 21-wins. Ikeda is 3rd with 20-wins while Bradley & Bueno are right behind with 19-wins. There is no Magic City award at the end of the season for combined wins as singles and doubles games are treated separately. Click Here for weekly updates on the 2022 Combined Singles and Doubles Statistics.

Magic City’s end of the short-season also meant there were Force-Outs (aka mandatory payouts) for the Jackpot wagers on Tuesday 4/19. The Jai-5, a $1.00 Pick 5 Jackpot wager, paid $2,550.10 to each of (3) lucky winners who had 4 of 5 winners correctly selected. There was one ticket live with the first 4-winners which needed the 8-post team of Jeden-Nicolas to score the entire Jackpot of $7,650.40 should they have won. The Mighty Ocho Jackpot wager, a $1.00 Pick 8 wager, paid a handsome $1,000 to each of (5) lucky winners who correctly selected 5 of 8 winners on their tickets. Both wagers continue for the regular season Jai-Alai Pelota games on May 1. Click Here for the full listing of Magic City Big Jackpot Winners which also includes all Force-Out payoffs for Magic City Jai-Alai since 2019 when Jackpot wagers first began.

Monday 4/18 was also a day of interest for Magic City Jai-Alai as the front pad was lowered 4-inches. Monday also marked the return of RonRon to the singles games at Magic City. RonRon had been sidelined due to back issues and ultimately back surgery and a lengthy recovery. He had been playing recently in doubles games but Monday was his first singles game debut. RonRon was injured on July 27, 2021 in game 6. RonRon did get a show on one of his four singles games over Monday and Tuesday. Check out SayHiLi’s Injury Report to keep up-to-date on players. We expect to see Cool Fitness return on May 1 from his hamstring injury and Spinner to return in May or June from his achilles injury. SayHiLi wishes a speedy return to the Jai-Alai professionals!

Jai-Alai action returns on May 1st to Magic City for the Jai-Alai Pelota games at 1:30-pm featuring traditional pari-mutuel wagering along with the 5-pm Jai-Alai H2H matches for the NEW Sports Wagering thru BetRivers. May 1st also features the return of FREE contests; an online fantasy contest covering all 3-days of H2H match action and another one for the Sunday Live fans in attendance for H2H, May 1st.

Be sure to support Magic City Jai-Alai to keep the Jai-Alive!

Battle Court H2H Championship Update

Battle Court H2H Championship Update

What a match-up it was today with the Warriors and Cyclones putting it all on the line in the inaugural season of the Battle Court H2H “Battle Royale” Championship. The Championship was a best of 5, winner take all (each match worth 1 point).

Ikeda & Manny of the Cyclones started off with a straight set victory (6-4, 6-4) over the Warriors Inaki & Julen. This match was back and forth with only one 3-point separation by Inaki & Julen in the second set.

The second doubles match went 3-sets with Joseph & Manu of the Cyclones beating Diaz & Bradley (6-1, 5-6, 6-2) with some outstanding play. Joseph & Manu had a 5-point run in the first set, then another 5-point run in the third set to seal the win.

With a 2-0 Cyclones lead in “Battle Royale,” the Warriors were on the brink of defeat with Bueno & Nicolas taking on Jeden & Manny. Bueno & Nicolas took a straight set victory (6-3, 6-3) over Jeden & Manny to keep the Warrior’s hopes alive. Manny exhibited some amazing catches in the match.

The Championship’s only scheduled singles match featured Julen of the Warriors and Carballo of the Cyclones. This singles match-up with the 6-0 singles leader, Carballo; winning in 3-sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-1) to clinch the “Battle Royale” Championship for the Cyclones.

What a day it was with each member of the Cyclones taking home $4,000 and each member of the Warriors taking home $1,000. Joseph even treated the crowd to one of his famous back-flips after the victory. This was an amazing season! A new group of matches called Jai-Alai H2H Championship Series will debut on Monday with more games on Tuesday, then a short break and the Jai-Alai H2H Championship Series will resume on May 1 with doubles matches on Sundays and singles matches on Mondays & Tuesdays.  These do not have the squad aspect like Battle Court, however stay tuned as Battle Court II is coming this fall with a few great tweaks to make it even better!  Remember to check SayHiLi.com for updates and more details.

The table below shows the “Battle Royale” Championship point summary by set and match.

Magic City Jai-Alai Jackpot Force-Outs on Tuesday!

Magic City Jai-Alai Jackpot Force-Outs on Tuesday!

The Jackpots must be paid-out on Tuesday at the Magic City Pelota games (aka Pari-Mutuel wagering games) to the lucky handicappers who have tickets with the most winners correctly selected for both the Jai-5 and the Mighty Ocho Jackpot wagers.

There are two more performances before the Tuesday Force-Out (aka Mandatory Payout). The Jai-5 is currently above the $2,000 guaranteed minimum and is $2,717.60 going into Sunday’s Pelota games. The Mighty Ocho, a $1.00 Pick 8 Jackpot wager, is at $766.80 but has a $5,000 guarantee which will be the minimum amount paid out on Tuesday to be split among those with the most correct winners of games 1-8. The Jai-5 is also a $1.00 wager and has been hit twice this season by single winning tickets for the Jackpot with payoffs of $2,000 and a huge payoff of $12,426 which is the 2nd largest Jai-5 payoff in Magic City history. Even if the Jai-5 is hit on Sunday or Monday’s Pelota games, there will still be at least $2,000 paid out to be split among lucky handicappers who have the most winners correctly selected for games 3-7.

Click Here for a complete listing of all the Jackpot payouts in Magic City history, including all Force-Out payoffs.

Magic City Pelota Stats Update thru Week 9 – Goixerri Wins Golden Cesta Award

Magic City Pelota Stats Update thru Week 9 – Goixerri Wins Golden Cesta Award

Week 9 of Magic City Pelota games ended on Tuesday April 12 with Goixerri winning his first Golden Cesta Award with 3-singles wins for the week. This is his first GCA since his debut at Magic City Jai-Alai on February 12, 2022. Five other players had 2-wins each. The chart below shows how all players fared in singles games for Week 9.

Carballo leads the Singles Championship for 2022 which concludes at the end of the 2022 season in November. He has 16-wins while Bueno is 2nd with 15-wins. Goixerri is right behind them with 14-wins. See the full Singles Championship data for all players in the table below (players shown alphabetically).

The 1st Doubles Tournament for 2022 concludes on Sunday, April 17th, so there are only two doubles games left in this competition. Be sure to check out the blog post on how this Doubles Tournament is coming down to the wire and there are 5-teams still in contention for the first and second place prize money. The full stats for the 12-doubles teams are shown below.

All Singles and Doubles games combined for all the players are shown below for those who prefer this option.

The Jai-5 Jackpot is growing and must be given away at the end of this short 10-week meet. The mandatory payout of the $1.00 Jai-5 and Mighty Ocho is expected to be on the last day of the meet on Tuesday, April 19th. The Jai-5 currently stands at $2,717.60, well above the $2,000 minimum guarantee for a single winning ticket with all 5-winners correctly selected. The Mighty Ocho, a $1.00 Pick 8 Jackpot wager, is currently $760.80, however the minimum guarantee is $5,000 for a single winning ticket with all 8-winners correctly selected. A Mighty Ocho minimum payout of $5,000 is guaranteed to be split among all ticket holders with the most winners correctly selected on the mandatory payout (aka force-out) day.

Pelota games at Magic City Jai-Alai will resume on Sunday May 1, with a new Doubles Tournament starting that day on games 5 & 7. Be sure to sign up for wagering accounts at watchandwager.com or myWinners (myWinners if you are a Connecticut resident); some state restrictions apply so be sure to check with these ADW providers for the latest info. One can also wager at Magic City LIVE on Sundays or for any of the Pelota game performances at the Magic City Sports Club or other venues listed HERE.

Magic City Short-Meet Doubles Tournament Down to the Wire!

Magic City Short-Meet Doubles Tournament Down to the Wire!

Sunday, April 17th marks the final day of the 2022 short-meet Pelota games Doubles Tournament and 5 of the 12 tournament teams are still in contention for first or second place prize money with only two doubles games remaining.  Tournament cash prizes are awarded to the top two teams with the most wins.

Currently, the team of Ikeda-Bradley with 9-wins has a 2-win lead over second place contenders Juice-Manu with 7-wins who have a shot at a tie for first should they win both games 5 and 7.  The teams of Carballo-Kubala and Jeden-Goixerri each have 6-wins and a shot at outright 2nd place should one of them win both games; or a possible tie for 2nd should they win one game.  Robin-Ben with 5-wins still have a shot at a tie for 2nd should they win both games 5 and 7.

Tuesday is the final day of the short 10-week Pelota game meet and even though this first doubles tournament of 2022 ends on Sunday, there will still be doubles games on Monday and Tuesday, however a few of the teams will feature different doubles pairings on those days.  There will be a short break in the exciting Jai-Alai action until the Magic City Jai-Alai Pelota and H2H games resume on Sunday, May 1st.

The table below shows the top teams in contention for the first 2022 Doubles Tournament, post numbers (PN) the teams are playing from for both doubles games 5 & 7 along with comments on their possible outcomes.  Should there be any ties, Magic City COO Scott Savin will be weighing in with the tie-breaker decisions.

World Super Court 2nd Qualifier Results – Erik-Manu did not disappoint!

World Super Court 2nd Qualifier Results – Erik-Manu did not disappoint!

Despite not having played competitively on US soil since Dania closed in November last year, the team of Erik-Manu had a strong showing at Magic City in the 2nd World Super Court qualifying event at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai in Miami today.  The team of Erik-Manu (also known as the top doubles team of Erik-Ladutxe from Dania) won all 3-matches in straight-set victories over their opponents to capture the top 2nd qualifier prize of $2,000 along with one of the 8-spots in the $50k World Super Court finals at Magic City on October 13th where the first place team wins $25,000 and second pays $12,000!

Erik-Manu handily outscored the Filipino team of Robin-RonRon 6-0, 6-0 in the first round match and won 6-5, 6-2 against Jairo-Nicolas in the second round.  The first set against Jairo-Nicolas was won by Erik-Ladutxe after Jairo lost his footing when they were tied at 5-5.  That first set was a 21-minute set which is one of the longest sets in H2H style Jai-Alai matches where there’s 3-sets to a match, with sets to 6-points (first team to 6-points wins the set), and the first team to win 2-sets wins the match.

The Magic City Jai-Alai brother’s team of Inaki-Julen (also known as Goitia-Julen, Goitia the name Inaki played under at Dania) faced off against Erik-Manu in the final match of the 2nd WSC Qualifier after they had beaten Bueno-Nicolas and Carballo-Arta.  This was another great match for viewers and did not come easy for Erik-Manu who won the first two sets 6-3 and 6-5, almost going to a 3rd set.  Inaki-Julen also advance to the WSC Finals at Magic City on October 13th and won the 2nd place prize of $1,000 for their incredible effort today.

The 3rd match in today’s first round was an outstanding match of abilities between Dania’s Zulaika-Arrieta and Magic City player Carballo paired with Arta and is a must see match for fans around the world of all types of Jai-Alai.  The Magic City team of Carballo-Anderluck was initially slated to play, but was changed early in the week to Carballo-Arta when Anderluck scratched for the 2nd WSC event.  The 6’3” Arta had played at Dania in both front court and back court positions in early games and in the last month has done judging for Magic City Jai-Alai.  The Carballo-Arta team had little practice together and lost a hotly contested first set 6-5 against Zuliaka-Arrieta, both late game Dania players, however, Carballo-Arta won the next two sets 6-3, 6-5, winning the match to proceed further in today’s qualifier.  They lost their next match in 2-sets, 4-6 and 1-6, to the Magic City brother’s team of Inaki-Julen.  Teams that won their first round sets today are eligible to compete again in future qualifiers if there are open spots.

The Erik-Manu team has vast experience playing together and is considered one of the best, if not the best, Jai-Alai doubles teams in the world.  Their late game doubles team record playing in pari-mutuel games at Dania from September of 2018 through November of 2021 is impressive when one considers there are 8-teams in each pari-mutuel game played.  The late game team record is 151-53-29-20 for an incredible 35.1% wins while an average team would have 12.5% wins, thus Erik-Manu were 2.8-times better than the average late-game team at Dania.

Today’s two qualifying teams will join the two brother’s teams of Goixerri-Aratz and Douglas-Benny who qualified at the 1st WSC Qualifier event at Magic City on February 16th.   The 3rd Qualifier is at Magic City on June 8th at 3-pm EST and the 4th Qualifier is expected to be at a location in Spain in September, exact date/time TBD, at a court similar in size to the Magic City fronton short-court (120’ long x 40’ wide).

To view the replay of the WSC Qualifier II on watchjaialai.com, CLICK HERE

Here is a detailed scoring of all the matches for this 2nd WSC Qualifier event, compliments of SayHiLi.com’s Battle Court / H2H Jai-Alai Sports Writer Jabracadabra (aka Joel A.):

Week 9 Battle Court H2H Update

Week 9 Battle Court H2H Update

The first place Cyclones squared-off with the third place Renegades to finish the last week of Battle Court play. The Cyclones will play the Warriors for the “Battle Royale” Championship on Sunday, April 17 at 5:00pm EST at the Magic City Fronton. More on the “Battle Royale” below.

The Cyclones got singles wins from Ikeda and Joseph. Ikeda won in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) over Kubala, while Joseph beat Vuelo in straight sets (6-2, 6-5). In doubles, Jeden & Manny beat Vuelo & Aratz in straight sets (6-0, 6-0).

For the Renegades, Ben beat Jeden in three sets (5-6, 6-0, 6-5) for a singles victory while the doubles team of Goixerri & Kubala earned a straight set (6-5, 6-5) victory over Carballo & Ikeda.

 Final Battle Court Standings

TeamPointsW-LPct
Cyclones45.537-210.638
Warriors37.532-270.542
Renegades33.527-320.458
Chargers27.522-370.373

Note: W-L does not include forfeitures in weeks 3 and 7, but are included in the points totals.

Be sure to tune in for the “Battle Royale” Championship Finals between the Cyclones and Warriors on Sunday, April 17th at 5:00 pm EST to find out which squad will win the top prize of $4,000 per team member! The 2nd place squad wins $1,000 per team member.

If you cannot make it to the fronton, you can watch the “Battle Royale” at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or by downloading the free Jai Alai Channel app.

The Championship will feature 4 doubles matches and 1 singles match, each worth 1 point. The first team to win 3 points/matches will win the championship. Once a team wins 3 matches, any remaining matches will not be played. The match-ups are shown below.

Fans in attendance at Sunday’s “Battle Royale” Championship Finals will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000 in the free to play “5 at 5” promotion. Any remaining (un-played) games after the Champion has been determined will count as wins. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.

And don’t forget to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the “Battle Royale” sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure.

The tables below show the season W-L records by player/team:

Note: W-L does not include forfeitures in weeks 3 and 7, but are included in the points totals

Green Box is Forfeit-Win and Pink Box is Forfeit-Loss

Week 8 Battle Court H2H Update

Week 8 Battle Court H2H Update

What another exciting week of Battle Court H2H action at Magic City with the Cyclones clinching first place and the Warriors going 7-3 (earning 8.5 points) to clinch second place. The Championship match will take place on Sunday, April 17 at the Magic City Fronton. The Cyclones play the Renegades on Sunday, April 10 to finish the season with another 6 points up for grabs, but the standings are “locked” as the Renegades with 31 points cannot catch the second place Warriors with 37.5 points.

Standings Through Week 8 (1 match remaining: Cyclones vs. Renegades)

TeamPointsW-LPct
Cyclones42.034-200.630
Warriors37.532-270.542
Renegades31.025-290.463
Chargers27.522-370.373

Note: W-L does not include forfeitures in weeks 3 and 7, but are included in the points totals.

The Cyclones went 4-1, earning 4.5 points with singles wins from Carballo, Manny and Manu. Carballo went undefeated with a 6-0 record. Carballo was on fire in the Pelota matches and it continued with a straight set (6-3, 6-1) win over Benny (Chargers) on Sunday. Jeden & Manny earned a 6-1, 6-2 straight set doubles win over Correa & Roque (Chargers).

The Warriors went 7-3 to earn 8.5 points with singles wins from Bueno, Diaz and Nicolas. Diaz bet Vuelo (Renegades) in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to finish with a 5-1 singles record. Inaki & Julen picked up their first doubles win in 3 sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-5) against Douglas & Benny (Chargers). Inaki teamed with Nicolas to take a 3 set win (5-6, 6-2, 6-5), handing the 5-0 Goixerri & Aratz (Renegades) their first loss of the season. Bueno & Nicolas finished doubles with a 5-1 record with a 2 set win (6-3, 6-3) over Robin & Ben (Renegades).

The Renegades went 1-4 earning 1 point with a singles win from Ben over Bradley (Warriors) in 2 sets (6-4, 6-5).

The Chargers went 3-7 earning 4 points with Benny going 1-1 with a straight set win (6-1, 6-3) over Julen (Warriors). CRB & Douglas beat Diaz & Bradley (Warriors) in 3 sets (6-1, 3-6, 6-1). Jairo & Benny took a 3 set win (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) over Carballo & Manu (Cyclones).

You can watch the final Battle Court session at 5pm on Sunday at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sunday to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H match at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.

Be sure to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure.

Be sure to tune in for the “Battle Royale” Championship Finals between the Cyclones and Warriors on Sunday, April 17th at 5:00 pm EST to find out which squad will win the top prize of $4,000 per team member! The 2nd place squad wins $1,000 per team member.

Magic City Jai-Alai 2022 Week 8 Update – Carballo, Carballo, Carballo!

Magic City Jai-Alai 2022 Week 8 Update – Carballo, Carballo, Carballo!

Another incredible week of Magic City pelota games concluded on Tuesday, April 5th at Magic City Jai-Alai at the Magic City Casino in the Magical City of Miami, Florida.  The exciting Jai-Alai action keeps getting better and better!

Carballo won the Golden Cesta Award for week 8 for the most singles wins for the week, scoring wins in 3 of his 8-singles games.  This is his 7th GCA in his Magic City Jai-Alai career and that secures him the spot of 3rd most GCA’s right behind Douglas with 34 and RonRon with 16.  Click Here to view the Golden Cesta Award history for Magic City Jai-Alai.

The team of Carballo-Kubala also scored victories in 3 of their 4-doubles games for week 8 in the first doubles tournament of 2022.  This is significant as they now have 6-team wins in this big money tournament and are only 1-win behind the teams of Ikeda-Bradley and Juice-Manu which have 7-wins each.  Since this tourney ends on Sunday, April 17th there are only 4-days left in the tourney which means each of the 12-tourney teams has only 5 or 6 chances left to win a doubles victory.  The first place team wins $10,000 while the second place team splits $5,000.  Click Here to view the complete doubles team chart for the first tourney for 2022.

Carballo leads the 2022 singles championship for the player with the most singles wins for the year.  He currently has 15-singles wins and Bueno is on his tail with 14-wins.  Third place with 11 wins is Goixerri.  Click Here to view the complete singles wins chart for 2022.

The combined singles and doubles records is shown below for those fans who like to mix the talents of the Magic City roster.  This chart also shows Carballo, Carballo and Carballo for most wins, top % Wins and top % ITM, plus an amazing 48.2% in-the-quiniela!

All Games 2022 thru 04-05-2022 at Magic City Jai-Alai

Steve M.

World Super Court 2nd Qualifier is April 13th:  Here’s the Matches!

World Super Court 2nd Qualifier is April 13th: Here’s the Matches!

The $50K World Super Court 2nd qualifying event will be held at the Magic City Casino Jai-Alai fronton on Wednesday, April 13th at 3-pm. Here are the teams for the first 4-matches which were drawn today for the first round of the qualifier event on Wednesday:

Erik-Manu vs Robin-RonRon

Jairo-Nicolas vs Jeden-Ben

Zulaika-Arrieta vs Anderluck-Carballo

Inaki-Julen vs Bueno-Kubala

These matches will be played using the H2H format and can be seen on watchjaialai.com. There will be a total of 7-matches on Wednesday. The top two teams will advance to the WSC Finals where they will join the teams of Goixerri-Aratz and Douglas-Benny who qualified at the 1st WSC Qualifier. The 3rd Qualifier is on June 8th at Magic City and the 4th Qualifier is slated for a date TBD in September in Spain on a court of similar size to Magic City.  The World Super Court Finals featuring the top 8-teams is October 13th at Magic City.   The World Super Court Finals first place team wins $25,000 while the 2nd place team wins $12,500.  World Super Court can be viewed on all platforms except YouTube’s The Jai-Alai Channel which is reserved for Magic City Pelota (pari-mutuel games).

Steve M.

Week 7 Battle Court Update

Week 7 Battle Court Update

What an exciting week of play it was with 4 of 5 matches on Sunday going 3 sets and the 4 of 5 matches on Tuesday going 3 sets. My wife, son and I were fortunate enough to be in the fronton on Sunday. Some friends from Illinois were also able to come down and enjoy the action. If you have not seen the action live, it is even faster than watching online. In addition to the exciting action, we met several players (Benny, CRB, El Barba and Roque) as well as Andrew’s parents. A Big Thank You to Stu, Andrew, Nate K and the entire Magic City crew that makes this amazing sport happen. I also got to say hello to Scott Savin.

The Cyclones remain in first place earning 4 points for the week going 2-2 including 1.5 points in a doubles match forfeit from Diaz & Bradley. Carballo picked up his 5th singles win beating Julen in a 3 set match (6-2, 4-6, 6-2) to lead the singles standings at 5-0. Carballo later teamed with Manu in doubles to earn a convincing victory over Inaki & Julen (6-0, 6-1).

The Renegades remain in second place and earned 4 points with a singles win by Ben over CRB of the Chargers  (4-6, 6-2, 6-2). The doubles team of Goixerri & Kubala improved to 3-2 with a 3 set victory over Jairo & Benny of the Chargers (0-6, 6-2, 6-0). Vuelo & Aratz won in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) against Correa & Roque of the Renegades.

The Warriors earned 4 points in singles play. Inaki earned his first singles win of the season with a 3 set victory over Manu of the Cyclones (5-6, 6-5, 6-4). Bradley improved to 4-1 with a straight set victory over CRB of the Chargers (6-5, 6-1). Bueno won in 3 sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-5) with a win over Correa of the Chargers. Nicolas earned a win over Manny of the Chargers (6-4, 6-4).

While the Chargers remain in 4th place, they went 5-5 for the week to earn 6 points. In singles, Correa went 1-1 while Roque improved to 4-2 for the season with wins over Diaz of the Warriors (6-4, 2-6, 6-5) and Vuelo of the Renegades (6-4, 1-6, 6-4). In doubles, Douglas & Benny earned a 3 set victory over Inaki & Nicolas of the Warriors (6-3, 5-6, 6-5) while CRB & Douglas went 3 sets to beat Bueno & Nicolos of the Warriors (6-5, 1-6, 6-4).

Standings Through Week 7 (2 Weeks Remaining)

TeamPointsW-LPct
Cyclones37.530-190.612
Renegades30.024-250.490
Warriors29.025-240.510
Chargers23.519-300.388

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H matches at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.  If there are no winners, the $1,000 will roll over to the following Sunday’s prize purse and $2,000 will be up for grabs.

Be sure to watch pelota game player El Barba and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays and has some newly added sound bytes. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure. With Chris Cote’s ownership of the “Cones”, the interactive chat has picked up and it is great seeing new Jai Alai fans learn about the game.

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 7

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 7

Ikeda won the Golden Cesta Award for Week 7 for the Magic City Casino pelota games (aka pari-mutuel games) by scoring 3-victories in his 6-singles games.  Three other players were tied with 2-wins; Bueno, Carballo and Manu.  This was Ikeda’s 5th Golden Cesta Award since joining the Magic City roster (Click Here for Golden Cesta stats)

Bueno, Carballo and Douglas had the highest %ITM for the week in singles with 66.7% each.  Overall highest singles win % for the year in singles is held by Carballo with 28.6%.  Carballo also has the highest % ITM and and % ITQ (in the quiniela or win/place combined).  Current leaders of the 2022 Singles Championship are Bueno and Carballo with 12-wins each followed by Goixerri with 10-wins and Douglas with 9-wins.  The latest week ending singles stat chart is shown HERE (under Wagering Info, Entries Results Stats & More, Magic City Singles Championship). The Singles Championship ends in November.

The doubles team of Juice-Manu had the best record for the week with two wins and a place in their four appearances while Anderluck-Benny were next best with one win and two places in their four appearances.  Overall in this first doubles tourney for 2022 which ends 4/19, the teams of Ikeda-Bradley and Juice-Manu are tied for the lead with 7-wins each.  Next best is Jeden-Goixerri with 5-wins followed by Anderluck-Benny and Robin-Ben with 4-wins each.  Each team has just 12-games left to play before this first tournament ends, so we expect some more great action-packed doubles games till the end.  The stat chart for the first tourney through 3/29 is shown HERE (under Wagering Info, Entries Results Stats & More, Magic City Doubles Tournaments).

Overall singles and doubles stats are shown below.  Carballo leads with 16 total wins and 4-players are tied with 15; Bradley, Bueno, Goixerri and Ikeda.  Ikeda leads with 23.1% for the highest win percentage and also has the highest % ITM with 55.4%.  The combined stats are shown below:

The Jai5 Jackpot was nailed by one lucky bettor on Monday’s pelota games for $12,426 so the Jackpot wager started out anew for Tuesday with the $2,000 minimum guarantee.  The mandatory payout for the Jai5 and the Mighty Ocho is the last day of the 2022 initial short meet on Tuesday, April 19th.

Steve M.

Magic City Jai-5 Jackpot Hit for $12,426!

Magic City Jai-5 Jackpot Hit for $12,426!

Jai-5 Will-Pays for Game 7 at Magic City on 3/28/2022

One lucky bettor nailed the $1.00 Jai-5 Jackpot wager at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami for a cool $12,426 at Monday’s pelota performance on Monday, 3/28.  This was the second largest payoff in Magic City history since the challenging Jackpot wager began in 2019.  The Jackpot had swelled to $9,690.80 going into today’s performance and had gone 15-performances without a single winner since last won on February 20th for $2,000. 

The winning numbers were 7-1-2-6-8 for games 3-7.  Ikeda, a crowd favorite and strong mid-games singles player, won both game 3 and game 4 singles to kick-off the sequence.  Game 5 doubles game was won by the team of Juice-Manu from the lucrative 2-post.  Game 6 late game singles, a feature game with the strongest players, was won by Douglas in a perfect runout style from post 6.  The game 7 finale, another doubles game, was also a perfect game runout by the team of Anderluck-Nicolas from post 8.  Anderluck was substituting for Diaz in the front court who was scratched for today’s games.

All posts were covered for a 5 of 5 winner except for post 7, the team of Bueno-Julen, which would have paid $71.90 for a 4 of 5 consolation payoff had they won the game.  Posts 1 and 4 had multiple tickets with 5 of 5 winners had they won.  The Jackpot Jai-5 would have carried-over to Tuesday’s performance had the 1,4 or 7 post won the game.  The Jai-5 Jackpot wager rules dictate there must be a SINGLE winning ticket with 5 of 5 winners for the entire jackpot to be paid out.  Had post 1 won the game it would have paid a consolation payout of $683.80 to 2-different winners while post 4 would have paid a consolation payout of $455.80 to 3-different 5 of 5 winners.  Posts 2,3,5,6,8 were all single winning ticket will-pays for $12,426 each.  A total of $3,419 was wagered on the Jai-5 for Monday’s performance.

The Jackpot wager starts out at $0 for Tuesday’s pelota performance at 1:30-pm EST, however, it has a minimum guaranteed Jackpot of $2,000 should there be a single winning ticket with 5 of 5.

SayHiLi.com website shows a complete listing of all the BIG PAYOFFS during the history of Magic City Jai-Alai for both the Jai-5 and the Mighty Ocho Jackpot wagers.

Steve M.

Magic City Jai-5 Wager Could Pay Over $12,500 Today!

Magic City Jai-5 Wager Could Pay Over $12,500 Today!

The $1.00 Jai-5 wager at Magic City Jai-Alai pelota games could pay over $12,500 at the Monday matinee today should a single winner hit all 5-winners correctly!  Currently, the jackpot carryover for the Jai-5 stands at $9,690.80 and if Monday’s bettors pour in another $3,553 like they did on Sunday’s Jai-5, the wager could pay the 2nd highest price ever in Magic City history.  There were (6) winning tickets at Sunday’s pelota games that paid a consolation payoff of $236.80 each for having 4 of 5 winners correctly picked.

Sunday marked the 15th consecutive performance where no bettor successfully won the ONLY winning ticket with 5 of 5 winners.  There were no live tickets 4 of 4 going into the game 7 wager finale on Sunday for the Jai-5 wager which is games 3-7.  The previous record number of performances without a winner was 16-consecutive performances back in 2021 from 2/28 – 4/4.  The record Jai-5 paid $27,348 to one lucky winner the following day on 4/5/2021.

The 2nd largest Jai-5 payoff in Magic City history was $12,220 on 11/13/2019 and today’s Jai-5 looks like it could break that record if someone scores the big win today.  The 3rd largest Jai-5 payoff was $11,746.40 on 8/17/2021.  SayHiLi.com website shows a complete listing of all the BIG PAYOFFS during the history of Magic City Jai-Alai for both the Jai-5 and the Mighty Ocho Jackpot wagers.

The Jai-5 wager is a “low takeout” wager with 20% of the total amount wagered for the performance going to the house for expenses and state fees, 40% going to consolation payoffs and the other 40% getting added to the Jackpot carryover.  Typical takeout rates for most Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagers are 25% (excluding win/place/show bets which are lower yet), however Magic City offers the low takeout rate of 20% for Daily Doubles, Pick 3’s, plus the Jai-5 and Mighty Ocho (the$1.00 Pick 8 Jackpot wager).  When a bettor holds the ONLY winning ticket 5 of 5, they get the carryover jackpot plus 80% of what was wagered on the Jai-5 for that performance.

Stay tuned for more on this rapidly growing Jai-5 Jackpot!  Only at Magic City Casino and Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida!!

Steve M.

Pray for Ukraine
Odds of Jai-5 Getting Hit for a Single Winner Sunday?

Odds of Jai-5 Getting Hit for a Single Winner Sunday?

Here’s some Jai-5 statistics since its debut in August 2019:

2019 – 2021: 454 Jai-5 events

29x multiple 5/5 winners (6.4%)

120x single 5/5 winner (26.4%)

2022: 17 Jai-5 events, harder to win with more balanced roster

1x multiple 5/5 winners (5.9%) hit on 1st day of season

1x single 5/5 winner (5.9%) hit 3rd day of season with only $488 total wagered

Based on these 471 Jai-5 events overall from 2019 thru 2022 to date, it’s approximately four times more likely there will be a single winner 5/5 vs multiple winners 5/5.

471 total Jai-5 events produced (30) multiple 5/5 winners and (121) single Jackpot winners.

Based on 2022 history to date, it’s unlikely the Jai-5 Jackpot will be hit tomorrow, but should it be hit it’s more likely to pay closer to $10k than $9k to a single winner as the carryover is $8,269.60 and 80% of what’s wagered gets added to the carryover if there’s a single winner.  Through the grapevines I’ve heard there will be some significant action on Jai-5 Sunday, but I would still be surprised if 5/5 is hit with the talent level change for 2022 making it more challenging compared to the past.  It’s definitely a very high risk wager because the most you can collect if you aren’t the single winner 5/5 is 40% of what is wagered if you hold ALL of the consolation tickets for 3/5 or 4/5 (very doubtful it pays 2/5).  In the unlucky event you and one other person each have 5/5, the most you can collect for the 5/5 consolation is 20% of what is wagered that day.

Another point of interest is consolations with 3 of 5 winners paid out on 21.4% of events for 2020 – 2021 while 2022 so far has paid on 3 of 5 winners for 21.4% of events.

Steve M (aka straymar)

Week 6 Battle Court Update

Week 6 Battle Court Update

The Cyclones moved into first place after going 9-1 in week 6 which included a sweep over the Warriors on Sunday. The sweep was their second in as many weeks. The “Cones” hammered out a 14 game winning streak and have gone 21-4 (0.840) since being in last place in week 3. To add to the excitement, the Cyclones team owner Chris Cote was in attendance to motivate and cheer on his team.

Carballo (4-0), Manny (3-1) and Manu (2-2) of the Cyclones each earned 2 singles wins in the week. Carballo and Diaz (Warriors) are each 4-0 while Kubala (Renegades) improved to 3-0 in singles play. Joseph & Manu (5-1) picked up 2 doubles wins and Ikeda & Manny (3-3) went 1-1.

In addition to Kubala’s win, the Renegades picked up a singles win by Ben (1-2) and a doubles win by Goixerri & Aratz. Goixerri & Aratz improved to 5-0 while Bueno & Nicolas (Warriors) remain at 4-0.

The Chargers got wins from Roque (2-2) and CRB & Douglas (1-2).

Standings Through Week 6 (3 Weeks Remaining)

TeamPointsW-LPct
Cyclones33.528-170.622
Renegades26.021-230.477
Warriors25.021-190.525
Chargers17.514-250.359

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H matches at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.  If there are no winners, the $1,000 will roll over to the following Sunday’s prize purse and $2,000 will be up for grabs.

Be sure to watch pelota game player El Barba and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays and has some newly added sound bytes. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure. With Chris Cote’s ownership of the “Cones”, the interactive chat has picked up and it is great seeing new Jai Alai fans learn about the game.

Magic City Pelota Stats & CRB Wins Golden Cesta Award Week 6!

Magic City Pelota Stats & CRB Wins Golden Cesta Award Week 6!

Another great week of exciting Magic City Jai-Alai concluded Tuesday, March 22nd with CRB capturing the Golden Cesta Award for the most singles wins for the week. His two wins in his six singles games along with a 66.7% ITM was enough to edge-out the victory against Carballo who also had 2-wins and tied with highest win percentage, but fell short on the ITM tie-breaker with 50%. Congratulations to CRB for his solid play which paid-off in week 6!

Here are the singles stats for 2022 through March 22nd for all players. The %ITQ stat (in the Quiniela) has been added to the far right column to assess top two finishes for the players. Three players are tied with 10-wins in the 2022 Singles Championship which is won by the player with the most wins for the year; Bueno, Carballo and Goixerri. Carballo has an incredible 58.3% for top two finishes while Goixerri is 2nd with a respectable 47.1%

The action-packed doubles games (games 5 & 7) also referred to as “Dodging Death” at Magic City Jai-Alai continue to be led by Ikeda-Bradley with (6) team wins while Juice-Manu have closed-in with (5) team victories through Tuesday. Jeden-Goixerri are third with (4) wins and three other teams have (3) wins each. Here is a snapshot comparing all 12-teams in this first 2022 Doubles Tournament.

This next data snapshot combines singles and doubles games for all players and currently two players are leading with 14-wins; Carballo and Goixerri.

The Jai-5 Jackpot wager was not won during Week 6 and has $8,269.60 in the jackpot carryover for Sunday’s March 27th performance when exciting Pelota Games with pari-mutuel wagering returns for Week 7 at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai in Miami. The largest Jai-5 in Magic City history was won by one lucky bettor for a whopping $27,348 last year! You must be the ONLY winner to score the entire jackpot on this popular wager. CLICK HERE for the BIG JACKPOT PAYOFF HISTORY at Magic City Jai-Alai.

Steve M (aka straymar)

Week 5 Battle Court Update

Week 5 Battle Court Update

Week 5 saw another round of great match-ups with 10 of the 15 matches going to a third and decisive set.

The Cyclones earned 9.5 points including a clean sweep of the Chargers on Tuesday. You may recall that the Cyclones were on the other end of the broom in Week 3 at the hands of the Warriors (on a Tuesday as well).

For the Cyclones; Joseph and Jeden each had two 3 set wins in singles. Joseph has been putting in extra practice time and has been working with teammates Manny and Manu to continue developing his skills. The extra work is showing as Joseph’s play has been more focused with better and more powerful shots. Joseph earned wins against Vuelo and Roque. In Jeden’s singles matches, he started with 6-5 first set wins over Ben and CRB only to lose the second sets of each match by scores of 0-6 and 2-6, then coming back to win the third sets 6-4. The third set against Ben was back and forth with no one having more than a 1 point lead until Jeden finished off the final 2 points and won 6-4. Carballo & Manu took an impressive 3 set doubles win over the undefeated team of Douglas & Benny (6-2, 3-6, 6-2) that showed more consistent and controlled play from Carballo.

The Renegades picked up singles wins from Goixerri (4-1) and Kubala (2-0). Goixerri & Aratz handed Ikeda & Manny a straight set doubles loss (6-0, 6-5) in a match that showed very powerful serving by Goixerri and amazing wall climbing by Aratz. Goixerri & Aratz along with Bueno & Nicolas of the Warriors are each 4-0 to lead Battle Court doubles. Later in doubles play, Goixerri & Kubala lost to Inaki & Nicolas in a 3 set match (6-2, 3-6, 5-6) that may have been the hardest fought match to date in Battle Court. Kubala, who joined the Magic City program in 2019, continues to improve his skill level and played tremendous with the three more experienced players.

For the Warriors, Julen won a 3 set singles match against Robin (1-6, 6-1, 6-2) that was hard fought. Robin (aka “shots king”) made some spectacular shots from the 10 line by crushing a backhand two wall and a very well placed drop shot. In addition to Nicolas’ great play in the earlier Pelota games and great doubles play, he handed Aratz his third straight singles loss (6-5, 6-3). Bueno & Nicolas won in a 3 set thriller over Vuelo (filling in for the injured Williams) & Aratz (6-5, 5-6, 6-4). In the first set, Bueno & Nicolas were up 5-0 and held on to win 6-5.

Midway through the 9 week season, only 4 points separate first from third place. The Warriors are in first place with 25 points, the Cyclones in second with 23 points, the Renegades in third with 21 points and the Chargers in fourth with 15 points.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H matches at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.  If there are no winners, the $1,000 will roll over to the following Sunday’s prize purse and $2,000 will be up for grabs.

Be sure to watch pelota game player El Barba and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays and has some newly added sound bytes. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure. Next week, Paulie will list his top 10 pizza toppings.

And that is not all, if you have not noticed, the production crew has added instant replay that enhances the viewing experience, especially since the action is so fast. No more pausing and going back to watch a spectacular play and then being behind on the live action. A big thanks to the production crew.

Jabracadabra

Magic City Pelota Games Wrap-Up Another Fantastic Week of Jai-Alai Action!

Magic City Pelota Games Wrap-Up Another Fantastic Week of Jai-Alai Action!

Week 5 of the 2022 pelota games 10-week short-meet just concluded on March 15 at Magic City Casino.  The Magic City 10-week short-meet started on February 14 and concludes on April 19th, however there is much more exciting Jai-Alai that continues through November.  Here is the latest scoop and stats on these pelota games, also known as the pari-mutuel wagering games,  which are Sunday through Tuesday with eight action-packed games each day at 1:30-pm EST.

Jai-5 Jackpot ($1.00 Pick 5 wager) is now at $5,436.80 and hasn’t been won for 11-consecutive performances.  This jackpot bet is starting to get some big action.  The entire jackpot can only be paid out when there is a single winner with all 5-winners correctly selected from games 3-7.  One bettor had the 6-post live in game 7 on Tuesday’s performance, the team of Ikeda-Bradley, to take down the entire jackpot.  Ikeda-Bradley needed to win two more double points (4-points more) in this game for that bettor, but were unable to score the win so the jackpot survives for Sunday, March 20 and could possibly pay over $7,000.  There were three winning tickets paying a consolation payoff on 4/5 winners for a healthy $313.40 each on Tuesday.

Juice scored his first singles game win for 2022 and treated fans to one of his famous back-flips; gotta love the energy and excitement when Juice wins!  There are still three players who have yet to win their first singles game win for 2022; Kubala (0 for 28), Nicolas (0/26) and El Barba (0 for 12).  El Barba only recently returned two weeks ago after missing the first three weeks while recovering from a knee procedure in the off-season.

The Golden Cesta Award, a non-monetary award to the player(s) with the most singles games for the week found the first time occurrence of 3-players who each had 2-wins, were all tied with the highest win % (33.3) and tied with the highest % ITM (50.0).  Those players were Goixerri, Jeden and Robin.  Goixerri was eliminated on a 3rd tiebreaker of place % as Jeden & Robin each had a place, but Goixerri didn’t but had a show finish. Congratulations Jeden and Robin!  Golden Cesta Award summary and weekly results are shown here on SayHiLi site:  Link for Golden Cesta Awards

The 2022 short-meet Singles Championship is currently being led by Bueno with 10-wins (10 of 37).  Goixerri is second with 9-wins (9 of 28) and Carballo is third with 8-wins (8 of 30).  Magic City superstar Douglas is currently fourth with 7-wins (7 of 28).  Bueno is an above-average mid-games player who plays in games 3 and 4.  Bueno had been benefiting on singles wins by filling in for El Barba in early game singles (games 1,2) due to Barba’s late start at the beginning of the meet and by substituting for Cool Fitness in those same early games because of Cool’s hamstring injury.  Bueno has scored half of his 10-singles wins in early games (5 of 11 in early games).

Note that the entries for the upcoming week do not have Bueno listed as playing in games 1 or 2 nor is he listed as a substitute for those games.  Mid-game players Anderluck and Kubala are playing in games 1 and 2 for Cool Fitness and mid-game players Bradley and Ben are listed as the program subs for those games in this coming week.  The return date for Cool Fitness is TBD.

Juice not only scored his first singles win in Week 5, but the doubles team of Juice-Manu were the only team to score two victories in the first 2022 doubles tournament which spans the 10-week short meet.  Each of the 12-teams plays four times during the six doubles games each week.  The Ikeda-Bradley team still lead the tourney with 5-wins after getting off to a quick start early in the season.  Second place is held by Jeden-Goixerri with 4-wins.  Third place is a 3-way tie between Anderluck-Benny, Carballo-Kubala and Juice-Manu.  The only winless teams are Diaz-Nicolas (0 for 17) and Cool Fitness-Aratz (0 for 7).  Cool Fitness and partner Aratz only had 7-appearances when Cool suffered his hamstring injury.

Here are some more stats for the short-season to date:

Singles games % ITM leaders:  Carballo 66.7%, Goixerri 60.7%, Ikeda 53.8%

Doubles games % ITM leaders:  Inaki-Tennessee 55.0%, Ikeda-Bradley 52.6%, Jeden-Goixerri 47.4%

Overall games % Wins:  Goixerri 27.7%, Carballo 23.5%, Ikeda 22.2%

Overall games % ITM:  Carballo 58.8%, Goixerri 55.3%, Ikeda 53.3%

Don’t forget to get your FREE fantasy contest entry in for the 15-Battle Court H2H matches for Sunday through Tuesday for the coming week! Should you get all 15-winners there’s a $1,000 cash prize (split if multiple winners).  Also, attend the live performance on Sunday for pelota games and the awesome H2H matches where H2H attendees get a FREE shot at the “5 AT 5” contest where contestants who pick all 5-match winners split $1,000.  Plus, don’t forget about the big Jai-5 Jackpot for Sunday’s pelota games!

Steve M.

Join El Barba and Paulie for H2H Matches and Live-Chat on Twitch!

Join El Barba and Paulie for H2H Matches and Live-Chat on Twitch!

Magic City’s Scott Savin now reaches even more Jai-Alai viewers through Twitch, an interactive livestreaming service for content spanning gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and more.  Fans can watch and listen to pelota game player, El Barba (Dennis Dalton), along with former Jai-Alai announcer, Paulie, and chat with them while watching live H2H sports betting games at Magic City.  Paulie is the originator of the Jai-Alai announcing phrase “the pad is bad.”  Paulie is also known for saying “macho picchu” when shots hit OB into the upper screen.

I signed up for Twitch yesterday morning to join the chat for Monday’s H2H games to find out more.  The FREE sign-up was easy and after going to https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai.

The duo is featured in a small screen on the bottom left of the H2H live-match screen where fans can watch the matches, watch them and hear them, while still hearing Stu and Andrew announcing at a lower volume in the background.  Viewers who have signed-up can even join the chat and ask El Barba and Paulie questions and get answers.  This is your opportunity to ask this Twitch Jai-Alai announcing duo your Jai-Alai questions and read what the other chatters are saying.  Yesterday was National Pi Day and El Barba even gave his top 10 types of pie in a countdown from 10 to 1 during the broadcast.  The pair is also evaluating the best doubles match plays in an interesting way and you will have to check-in to find out more about that!  Turns out El Barba even knows a lot about Bitcoin.

All in all I found it interesting and today El Barba will be announcing the teams for the 2nd World Super Court qualifier at Magic City on April 13th at 3-pm EST.

Steve M.

Six Tough Matches for Battle Court H2H Sports Betting this Week

Six Tough Matches for Battle Court H2H Sports Betting this Week

Sunday Match 2 – Ben vs Jeden

Betrivers has Jeden favored to win (-127 vs +103).  Jeden plays the early games for the pelota games while Ben is a mid-game player.  Ben makes some amazing catches and won most-improved player for Magic City’s 2021 meet.  Not surprised if Ben upsets in this match.

Sunday Match 5 – Joseph-Manu vs Robin-Ben

Betrivers has Robin-Ben favored to win (-155 vs +125). Manu is former Dania player Ladutxe, one of the top back-court Jai-Alai players in the world and he’s been adjusting better to the Magic City short-court in his recent games.  This match is closer than the betting line indicates and should be a good one!

Monday Match 1 – Julen vs Robin

Betrivers has Julen favored to win (-125 vs +100).  Look for a possible upset here as Robin, a former Dania player, is a shot-maker looking to end the point quickly with his kill shots.  Even though Julen is a late-game Magic City pelota player and Robin is a mid-game player, Julen is one of the weaker late-gamers while Robin is in the upper half of mid-gamers.

Monday Match 4 – Goixerri-Kubala vs Inaki-Nicolas

Betrivers has a slight edge for Inaki-Nicolas (-118 vs -106).  This should be an awesome match to watch and is almost a virtual tie on the betting line.  The Goixerri-Kubala team showed great teamwork in their last match and will be a tough cookie to crumble.  Goixerri had the most overall wins in the Magic City pelota games last week and is tied with the amazing Douglas for most wins in the feature pelota singles games (games 6&8) for 2022 to-date.  Both Inaki and Nicolas have been finding their groove and playing better too.  Flip the coin on this match.

Tuesday Match 2 – CRB vs Jeden

Betrivers gives the edge to Jeden (-134 vs +108).  CRB is currently in the top two players for early game pelota games at Magic City and has been out-performing Jeden in those games (games 1&2).  Jeden’s strength sometimes finds him making unforced errors.  This match is much closer than the betting line indicates. 

Tuesday Match 5 – CRB-Douglas vs Jeden-Manny

Betrivers gives the edge to CRB-Douglas (-125 vs +100).  CRB-Douglas are also teamed for the Magic City pelota games first doubles tournament for the 2022 short-meet.  They are ranked 11th of 12 teams for ITM finishes (in-the-money) so far since the Feb 14th opening day and have been struggling.  Douglas is a top player at Magic City while Manny is perhaps one of the best catchers, waiting for opponents to make a mistake.  This match will be one to watch with the amazing court-positioning abilities of both Douglas and Manny.  Flip a coin on this doubles match too.

Are You Ready for Some Jai-Alai?  Pelota Games & H2H Matches!

Are You Ready for Some Jai-Alai? Pelota Games & H2H Matches!

Magic City’s popular Pelota games and Battle Court H2H Jai-Alai matches continue with Week 5 of the incredible action on Sunday at 1:30-pm EST for Pelota games (aka pari-mutuel wagering games) and 5-pm EST for the Battle Court H2H matches.  H2H Jai-Alai matches are Head-to-Head matches between two singles players or two doubles teams and represent the new and exciting sports betting version of Jai-Alai wagering that has been spreading and increasing in popularity.  Both of these versions of Jai-Alai are played at Magic City Casino on Sunday through Tuesday and live customer viewing is allowed on Sunday only with doors opening at 1-pm.

Jai-Alai Pelota wagering can be done at the Magic City Sports Club or in the Jai-Alai fronton area on Sundays, numerous simulcast sites and with on-line ADW betting services watchandwager.com and mywinners.com (some state restrictions apply).

Sports betting at this time is exclusively through Betrivers.com and is currently approved and operating in the states of AZ, CO, IA, IL, NJ, PA, VA. Betting on Jai-Alai is similar to betting on tennis, or even ping-pong. You can bet on match winners, as well as set winners, point winners, point totals, take advantage of sports betting bonuses, and more. Here’s the variety of Jai-Alai betting markets on BetRivers for H2H games:

  • Match Winner odds (Moneyline)
  • Set # Winner (Moneyline)
  • Point # Winner (Moneyline)
  • Over/Under Points in Set # (Total)
  • Set Betting, i.e. 2-0, 2-1, 1-2 or 0-2 (Moneyline, index style)
  • Set Score Handicap  (Spread)
  • First to get 3 points in a Set (Moneyline)

Stay tuned to SayHiLi.com for the latest Magic City news, stats, jackpot carryovers and more.

Steve M.

Week 4 Battle Court H2H Update

Week 4 Battle Court H2H Update

The Warriors remain in first place with 20 points with the Renegades in second place with 17.5 points. The Chargers are in third place with 15 points while the Cyclones are in fourth with 13.5 points. The Chargers and Warriors are 1 ‘game-day’ of play ahead of the Cyclones and Renegades.

Inaki of the Warriors debuted in number one singles this week with matches against Douglas and Goixerri. Inaki fell to Goixerri in 2 sets (3-6, 3-6) and then faced Douglas on Tuesday for a rematch of the second annual USNJAC finals that was played at Magic City in 2021. Great play was on display but Douglas jumped out with leads of 3-0 in set 1 and 4-0 in set 2 which proved too much for Inaki to overcome. Douglas won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

The Cyclones went 4-1 to earn 5 points in week 4 after an 0-5 week 3. Ikeda and Jeden picked up singles wins while Ikeda & Manny as well as Joseph & Manu earned doubles wins. Jeden entered Monday’s Battle Court H2H matches with a Sunday/Monday 7 of 8 In-The-Money record from the earlier pelota games (aka pari-mutuel games) which are a great warm-up for H2H matches. Jeden earned a victory over CRB of the Chargers in 3 sets with a pivotal moment coming on a double fault by CRB late in the match.

Benny, Douglas, Jairo and Roque each earned singles wins for the Chargers.

In doubles, Goixerri & Kubala of the Renegades beat Inaki & Julen of the Warriors in straight sets (6-2, 6-2) with some great plays and very focused play by Kubala. The team of Jairo & Benny of the Chargers lost 2 three set matches against Ikeda & Manny of the Cyclones (5-6, 6-2, 4-6) and Inaki & Nicolas of the Warriors (6-3, 1-6, 1-6).

In singles, Jairo of the Chargers and Nicolas of the Warriors went 3 sets with Nicolas winning the first set 6-5. Jairo won the match by winning the second and third sets (6-2, 6-2). Jairo seemed to have shifted gears by taking more shots in the last two sets and even busted out a beautiful left side costado two-wall shot.

You can watch Battle Court H2H action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai-Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of each days matches. Jeden even came in to give an insightful player’s perspective point of view for the Tuesday matches.

Jabracadabra (aka Joel)

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 4 – Loads of Stats!

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 4 – Loads of Stats!

The exciting Magic City pelota games concluded another week on Tuesday, March 8.  Bueno captured the Golden Cesta Award for back-to-back weeks now by winning 3-singles games in his 8-appearances for week 4. The award goes to the player winning the most singles games for the week.  This is Bueno’s 6th GC award since joining the roster at the start of the 2019 season.  He joins an elite group of four other players with 6-GC Awards in their Magic City careers; Anderluck, Ben, Carballo and El Barba.  Douglas leads with 34 awards and RonRon is second with 16 awards.  Currently, the pelota game players compete in 6-singles games each week if there are no scratches.  Note that “Pelota” is a distinction used by Magic City which started this year to distinguish between the Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel games (pelota games) and the H2H games with sports wagering.

El Barba is back and plays in early game singles (ga 1,2).  He lost a game point for a win but did manage to place in one of his 6-appearances, but was struggling on his first day back from knee surgery plus was trying to break-in a new cesta.  RonRon was back and has been featured in doubles games only for starters.  The team of Vuelo-RonRon played in 5-games and had a respectable win and a place.  Their place came on RonRon’s first game back since being out since July 27th of last year (back issues).  Cool Fitness was scratched for week 4 and is not listed in the week 5 entries due to his hamstring injury.

Bueno currently leads the Singles Championship with 8-wins with Douglas and Goixerri on his tail with 7-wins, fighting it out in the late feature singles where the two best late players have a combined 14-wins in 22 late singles feature games for 2022 (a combined 63.3% wins in games 6/8).  Ikeda-Bradley continue to lead the first 2022 Doubles Championship with 5-wins, a two win lead over the second place teams of Anderluck-Benny and Jeden-Goixerri with 3-wins each.

Pari-mutuel betting pools continue their rise in popularity for 2022.  Trifecta pools are averaging nearly $2100 per game for the week and exacta pools have grown significantly too.  The average exacta pool for week 3 was $430 with a record high of $610 for Tuesday’s game 8 feature game.  The trifecta average $1 payoff was a respectable $217 for week 4 over the 24-games, down from the week 3 average but the average $1 trifecta price for 2022 remains a whopping $261.60Sunday’s late Pick 3 pool was a 2022 record at $883 where one lucky winner scored for $705.60 for the $1 ticket! Don’t forget that Magic City Jai-Alai offers $0.50 trifecta wagers and $1.00 Quiniela/Exacta/Win/Place/Show betting, plus the low takeout rate of 20% on their Pick-X wagers which includes the $1 Mighty Ocho (Pick 8 Jackpot game 1), $1 Jai-5 (Pick 5 Jackpot game 3), $1 Pick 3 (two of them, games 2 & 6) and the early $2 Daily Double game 1.  The late Daily Double was dropped from the Magic City wagering menu.

Here are the players leading the pelota game stats for 2022 thru week 4:

All Singles and Doubles Games Combined for 2022 – highest win %:

  1. Goixerri 27.0%
  2. Ikeda 25.7%
  3. Bueno 23.8%
  4. Bradley 23.4%
  5. Carballo 23.1%

All Singles and Doubles Games Combined for 2022 – highest ITM %:

  1. Ikeda 60.0%
  2. Goixerri 56.8%
  3. Carballo 56.4%
  4. Inaki 50.0%
  5. Bradley 44.7%

Singles only for 2022 – highest win %:

  1. Douglas / Goixerri 31.8% (7 wins in 22 ga)
  2. Bueno 28.6% (8 wins in 28 ga)
  3. Carballo 27.3% (6 wins in 22 ga)
  4. Ikeda 20.0% (4 wins in 30 ga)
  5. Bradley 19.4% (6 wins in 31 ga)

Early Game Singles (ga 1,2) – highest win % (excludes mid-game sub players):

  1. Tennessee 18.2%
  2. CRB 13.6%

Early Game Singles (ga 1,2) – highest ITM % (excludes mid-game sub players):

  1. Cool Fitness and CRB 50.0%
  2. Jeden 36.4%

Mid Game Singles (ga 3,4) – highest win %:

  1. Carballo 27.3%
  2. Bueno / Ikeda 20.0%

Mid Game Singles (ga 3,4) – highest ITM%:

  1. Ikeda 65.0%
  2. Carballo 63.6%

Late Game Singles (ga 6,8) – highest win%:

  1. Douglas / Goixerri 31.8%
  2. 3-players tied  9.1%

Late Game Singles (ga 6,8) – highest ITM%:

  1. Goixerri 63.6%
  2. Douglas / Inaki 50.0%

Doubles Tourney #1 (ga 5,7) – highest win %:

  1. Ikeda-Bradley 33.3%
  2. Jeden-Goixerri / Vuelo-RonRon 20.0%
  3. Anderluck-Benny 18.8%
  4. Bueno-Julen 14.3%
  5. Robin-Ben 13.3%

Doubles Tourney #1 (ga 5,7) – highest ITM%:

  1. Ikeda-Bradley 53.3%
  2. Inaki-Tennessee 50.0%
  3. Jeden-Goixerri 46.7%
  4. Carballo-Kubala / Diaz-Nicolas 43.8%
  5. Juice-Manu / Vuelo-RonRon 40.0%

Doubles  Tourney #1 – Most Wins:

  1. Ikeda-Bradley – 5
  2. Anderluck-Benny / Jeden-Goixerri – 3
  3. 3-other teams – 2

Singles Championship for Early 2022 Meet  – Most Wins:

  1. Bueno – 8
  2. Douglas / Goixerri – 7
  3. Bradley / Carballo – 6
  4. Ben – 5

Get ready for Week 5 of exciting pelota game action from Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida on Sunday, March 13th at 1:30-pm EST.  Fans will be on edge to see if El Barba scores his first win in his second week back from knee surgery.  He’s definitely getting off the court quicker now!  Fans are allowed in the Jai-Alai fronton area only for Sunday’s games and also for the incredible Battle Court H2H games which follow at 5-pm EST.   Should you reside in south Florida or planning a trip there be sure to take advantage of the Sunday H2H promo “5 At 5” where you could win up to $1,000 for correctly selecting the 5-winners of the Battle Court H2H matches at 5-pm and it’s FREE to enter.  Don’t forget to enter the FREE online H2H contest for the 15-matches from Sunday thru Tuesday where the top cash prize is $100 if you are the only winner with the most correct selections.

The Jai-5 jackpot wasn’t won in week 4 and has grown to $3,468 for the Sunday, March 13 opener for week 5. Big jackpot fans won’t want to miss out on this!

Steve M (aka straymar)

Manu Wins both Late Singles on Sunday’s Opener, Betting Pools on the Rise!

Manu Wins both Late Singles on Sunday’s Opener, Betting Pools on the Rise!

Magic City Jai-Alai player Manu, formerly known as Ladutxe from Dania, won his first singles game for the new meet, not only winning game 6 but also game 8 singles for the pelota games (aka pari-mutuel wagering games).  Manu had struggled at the start in the late feature singles games 6 & 8 against the likes of Douglas and Goixerri who have been dominating the late singles with a combined 11 wins in the 18 feature singles games so far.  Manu, the undisputed best back-court player from the Dania fronton, was signed-on to the Magic City Jai-Alai roster after the close of Dania Jai-Alai in 2021.

Ladutxe left the Dania fronton on its closing day in true champion-style by winning the last four games of the Dania meet finale and overall winning five of his seven appearances plus a second place finish in another game on November 28th 2021.  That was perhaps the best finish for Ladutxe in his Dania career for one performance.  His most wins in a Dania performance in the previous two years was when he won four games of his five appearances for the October 12 Saturday matinee program in 2019.

Trifecta pools continue to grow for 2022 at Magic City Jai-Alai with Sunday being the largest average daily trifecta pool yet for the year since opening on February 14.  Trifecta prices continue to pay great with an average $1.00 trifecta price of $274 for Sunday’s eight pelota games.  The popular Jai-5 Jackpot wager also swelled above the $2,000 guaranteed minimum for the first time this year to $2,713 on Sunday as there again was no single winning ticket with all five winners correct.  Monday’s Jackpot wager could easily exceed $4,000 to one lucky winner.

Magic City’s schedule is eight pelota games starting at 1:30-pm EST for Sunday through Tuesday and five Battle Court / H2H matches at 5-pm the same days.  The fronton area is open for live viewing for pelota games and Battle Court / H2H on Sundays.

Steve M.

Week Three Battle Court – Another Great Week of Action-Packed Play

Week Three Battle Court – Another Great Week of Action-Packed Play

Week 3 of Battle Court did not disappoint. Just when you thought it could not get any better, it did.

Diaz went 2-0 with wins against Roque on Sunday and Joseph on Tuesday. Both matches went 3 sets with 28 points each. In the third set against Joseph, tied at 1 apiece, Diaz was called for juggling, but regained his focus and went on to win. Diaz has a Battle Court leading singles record of 4-0. The win over Joseph was the beginning of the season’s first clean sweep as the Wall Warriors went 5-0 against the Cesta Cyclones. Both Diaz and Joseph have improved their skills from last season.

Bueno contributed to the Wall Warriors success with 2 singles wins as well with straight set wins against Correa and Ikeda. Bueno entered Battle Court with very good play carrying over from the pari-mutuel games. Bueno is 2-2 in the season standings.

Over all, the Wall Warriors went 8-2 for the week earning 9.5 points.

Robin of the Rebote Renegades had a straight set victory (6-3, 6-3) against Benny on Monday for his first win of the season. The ‘shots king’ had an amazing soft forehand from the 11 line in the opening set that set the tone.

Jairo (6-2, 6-4 vs Aratz) and CRB (6-5, 6-1 vs Bradley) of the Chula Chargers also got their first singles wins of the season.

Now for some doubles action. Douglas and Benny of the Chula Chargers beat Goixerri and Kubala of the Rebote Renegades (6-2, 6-4) that saw some very powerful serves. An exciting part about Battle Court is the server is afforded 2 serves. With that, we have seen some very powerful first serve attempts adding to the fast-paced action.

If this has not been exciting enough, it gets better. The opening point in Tuesday’s first doubles match featuring Carballo & Manu vs Inaki & Nicolas lasted 4 and a half minutes. Inaki & Nicolas won in 3 sets (6-1, 2-6, 6-5). The 6-1 score of the first set was not indicative of the quality of play. Carballo, who started in Magic City’s inaugural season of 2018 played focused and under control with his partner Manu (former Dania player) against former Dania opponents of Inaki & Nicolas.

With all of this action, the Wall Warriors moved from 3rd to 1st place with 15 points. The Rebote Renegades are in 2nd place with 13.5 points with the Chula Chargers in 3rd with 11. The Cesta Cyclones are in 4th place with 8.5 points.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

Jabracadabra (aka Joel)

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 3 – Bueno Wins Golden Cesta Award

Magic City Pelota Stats thru Week 3 – Bueno Wins Golden Cesta Award

The exciting Magic City pelota games concluded another week on Tuesday, March 1.  Bueno captured the Golden Cesta award by winning 4-singles games in his 9-appearances. The award goes to the player winning the most singles games for the week.  This is Bueno’s 5th GC award since joining the roster at the start of the 2019 season.  He benefited by securing spots in three early games this week and won two of those games.  Early game singles players are featured in games 1 and 2.  Bueno along with several other mid-game players have been filling in for El Barba in early games since he’s been recovering from a knee procedure during the off-season.  Also the scratch of Cool Fitness from early games on Monday and Tuesday (hamstring injury) has given some mid-game players more opportunities in early games.  Mid-game singles players are featured in games 3 and 4 each performance while the top singles players at Magic City Jai-Alai compete in the late pelota games which are games 6 and 8 each performance.  Currently, the pelota game players routinely compete in 6-singles games each week.  Doubles games are played games 5 and 7.  Note that “Pelota” is a distinction used by Magic City which started this year to distinguish between the Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel games (pelota games) and the H2H games with sports wagering.  References to Battle Court H2H apply to the team aspect of H2H games which is also new and will be featured only through mid-April.

Good news for die-hard El Barba fans is the return of El Barba on Sunday March 6th where he will see pelota game action in early games 1 and 2.  Also, the long awaited return of RonRon is slated for Sunday where he will play initially in doubles games only with his tournament partner Vuelo.  RonRon will play in singles games when he’s been cleared to compete in those.  RonRon has been out since July 27th of last year and recovering from back issues.  SayHiLi welcomes back both players!

Pari-mutuel betting pools continue to be up more than 50% for 2022 compared to the last month of 2021, which is great for the sport and shows promise.  Trifecta pools hit the highest daily average for 2022 on Tuesday, March 1 and exacta pools have been comparable to those typically seen at Dania.  Caliente Casino in Mexico which also operates a greyhound track with daily simulcast greyhound races just added Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering to their simulcast menu starting on March 1 which should boost wagering pools once the word spreads as that includes other Mexico sites affiliated with the Caliente Casino.

The Jai-5 jackpot has been growing and will exceed the minimum guarantee of $2,000 for the first time in 2022 for Sunday’s pelota performance.  Big jackpot fans won’t want to miss out on this opportunity!

Here are the players leading the pelota game stats for 2022 thru week 3:

All Singles and Doubles Games Combined for 2022 – highest win %:

  1. Ikeda 32.1%
  2. Bradley 28.6%
  3. Bueno 23.2%
  4. Douglas / Goixerri 22.2%

All Singles and Doubles Games Combined for 2022 – highest ITM %:

  1. Ikeda 60.7%
  2. Inaki 57.1%
  3. Carballo 50.0%
  4. Bradley 48.6%
  5. Diaz 46.4%

Singles only for 2022 – highest win %:

  1. Douglas 37.5%
  2. Goixerri 31.3%
  3. Bueno / Carballo / Ikeda 25.0%

Early Game Singles (ga 1,2) – highest win % (excludes mid-game sub players):

  1. Tennessee 18.8%
  2. Cool Fitness 8.3%
  3. Vuelo 7.1%
  4. CRB / Diaz / Jeden 6.3%

Early Game Singles (ga 1,2) – highest ITM % (excludes mid-game sub players):

  1. Cool Fitness 50.0%
  2. CRB 43.8%
  3. Vuelo 42.9%
  4. Diaz 37.5%
  5. Jeden 31.3%

Mid Game Singles (ga 3,4) – highest win %:

  1. Carballo / Ikeda 25.0%
  2. Bradley / Robin 18.8%
  3. Bueno 14.3%

Mid Game Singles (ga 3,4) – highest ITM%:

  1. Ikeda 62.5%
  2. Carballo 56.3%
  3. Robin 43.8%
  4. Bueno 42.9%
  5. Bradley 37.5%

Late Game Singles (ga 6,8) – highest win%:

  1. Douglas 37.3%
  2. Goixerri 31.3%
  3. Inaki 12.5%
  4. Aratz / Benny / Julen 6.3%

Late Game Singles (ga 6,8) – highest ITM%:

  1. Douglas / Goixerri / Inaki 56.3%
  2. Manu 37.5%
  3. Aratz 31.3%

Doubles Tourney #1 (ga 5,7) – highest win %:

  1. Ikeda-Bradley 41.7%
  2. Anderluck-Benny 25.0%
  3. Bueno-Julen 20.0%
  4. Carballo-Kubala 16.7%
  5. Jeden-Goixerri / Juice-Manu / Robin-Ben 9.1%

Doubles Tourney #1 (ga 5,7) – highest ITM%:

  1. Diaz-Nicolas / Ikeda-Bradley / Inaki-Tennessee 58.3%
  2. Juice-Manu 45.5%
  3. Carballo-Kubala 41.7%

Doubles Tourney #1 – Most Wins (cash prizes based on # wins):

  1. Ikeda-Bradley – 5
  2. Anderluck-Benny – 3
  3. Bueno-Julen / Carballo-Kubala – 2
  4. 4-other teams – 1

Singles Championship for Early 2022 Meet  – Most Wins (cash prizes based on # wins):

  1. Douglas – 6
  2. Bradley / Bueno / Goixerri – 5
  3. Carballo / Ikeda – 4
  4. Ben / Robin / Tennessee – 3

Get ready for Week 4 of exciting pelota game action from Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida on Sunday, March 6th at 1:30-pm EST with the return of the passionate bearded one (El Barba) and the amazing RonRon.  Fans are allowed in the Jai-Alai fronton area only for Sunday’s games and also for the incredible Battle Court H2H games which follow at 5-pm.   Should you reside in south Florida be sure to take advantage of the Sunday H2H promo “5 At 5” where you could win up to $1,000 for correctly selecting the 5-winners of the Battle Court H2H matches at 5-pm and it’s FREE to enter.

Steve M (aka straymar)

Magic City OnLine Handicapping Contest – $1,500 Prize Up for Grabs Each Week!

Magic City OnLine Handicapping Contest – $1,500 Prize Up for Grabs Each Week!

Magic City H2H Jai-Alai matches have a $1,500 max prize up for grabs each week for the games at 5-pm on Sunday through Tuesday.  Contestants correctly selecting the winners of 15 of 15 H2H matches for the week will split the $1,500 grand prize.  If only one contestant has all 15 correct they win the entire prize.  This prize pool is $1,000 higher than what was offered last year.

Should no contestant have all 15 winners correct, the contestants with the most winners correct split $100.  No matter how many winners are tied with the most winners correctly selected, the minimum prize for contest winners will be $25 per contestant.

The first contest for the 2022 season ran from 2/20 through 2/22 and there were two winners who had 14 of 15 winners correct.  El Corazan and Reverse Two Wall are the contestants who picked 14 winners and won $50 each for their handicapping skills.  Five matches are played each day Sunday through Tuesday with three of them singles matches and the other two doubles matches.  All you have to do is pick who wins each match.

Check under “Other Links” on the menu bar on SayHiLi.com or click here Rules & Info for details on this FREE contest.  It’s an on-line contest and anyone over 18 can enter.

Remember it’s FREE and FUN to compete with other Magic City Jai-Alai fans for these prizes!  Don’t miss out on this great promo!

Steve M.

Exciting Week Two Battle Court Matches

Exciting Week Two Battle Court Matches

In this week’s Battle Court action, the Rebote Renegades earned 7.5 team points in their two appearances on Sunday and Tuesday. Aratz went 2-0 in singles and the doubles team of Goixerri/Aratz went 2-0. Strong performances by both Goixerri and Aratz that are new to the Magic City roster.

On Sunday, Douglas and Goixerri battled it out in a thrilling 31 point 3 set match. The action was non-stop as Douglas won 6-4, 4-6 and 6-5. Aratz and Jairo also went 3 sets playing 28 points with Aratz winning 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3.

The Cesta Cyclones earned 5 points with straight set wins from Carballo and Ikeda in singles and Manny teamed up with Ikeda then with Jeden for 2 team wins in doubles.

Bradley and Diaz each earned singles wins and Bueno/Nicolas picked up a doubles win to give the Wall Warriors 3.5 points for the week.

The Chula Chargers saw Benny and Douglas each earn singles wins for 2 points. In doubles, the team of Jairo/Benny went up against a buzzsaw with the team of Goixerri/Aratz.

The Rebote Renegades lead the standings with 11.5 points followed by the Cesta Cyclones with 8.5, the Wall Warriors with 5.5 and the Chula Charges with 4.5.

You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.

Douglas Wins 1st Golden Cesta Award for 2022 at Magic City Pelota Games

Douglas Wins 1st Golden Cesta Award for 2022 at Magic City Pelota Games

Douglas won his 34th Golden Cesta Award of his career by winning the most singles games for the first 5-performances at Magic City Jai-Alai in 2022.  Those wins came in the pelota games, formerly referred to as the pari-mutuel wagering games.  Douglas had won this award the final week of 2021 action by winning 50% of his singles games then and picked up where he left off by winning 50% of his ten singles games to start the 2022 meet, and this feat was accomplished against even tougher competition from some Dania players that joined the Magic City roster.  Douglas has more than double the amount of Golden Cesta Awards than any other player.  RonRon has second most awards with 16.

Ikeda got off to a great start by winning four of his 10-singles pelota games for 40% wins and an amazing 80% ITM (in the money).  Three other players were tied with 3-wins each; Carballo, Goixerri and Tennessee.  The best ITM for the week was Ikeda with 80% while Douglas and Goixerri were tied for second best ITM with 70% each.  Nine players of the 23-players starting the meet have yet to score their first win.

The first doubles tourney for 2022 has been dominated by the Ikeda-Bradley team who have surged to a huge early lead by winning five of their eight games with two second places (62.5% wins, 87.5% ITM).  The second place team of Anderluck-Benny has two wins while three other teams have one win each.  Six of the eleven starting teams are winless and one team has yet to record an ITM finish.  The 12th team of Vuelo-RonRon will join this first tourney when RonRon returns soon.

The Magic City pelota game roster is 26-players, however three of them are currently sidelined for medical reasons.  El Barba had a knee procedure during break and should be back soon and RonRon (back issues) should also be returning soon.  Spinner had a serious injury last year and is expected back this summer.

The pelota game betting handle remains well above the 2021 meet at this point.  Trifecta wagers are the most popular by far, as usual for Jai-Alai games, and the trifecta pool average in 2022 is running 53% higher than the last month of the 2021 season and 35% higher than the average trifecta pool for all of 2021.  Average trifecta prices for 2022 are also starting out big with the $1.00 trifecta averaging $280.50 over the first 40-games compared to $221.50 for all of 2021, thus a 27% increase.

Be sure to watch and support the Magic City pelota games every Sunday through Tuesday at 1:30-pm EST.  Sign up to wager with watchandwager.com to place wagers on pelota games or with mywinners.com for CT residents.  Some state restrictions on wagering apply.  Watch and wager live in the Jai-Alai fronton area only for Sunday’s games.  You can also watch and wager on Magic City pelota games at this List of Other Sites shown on SayHiLi.com.

Steve M.

Battle Court H2H Free “5 AT 5” Contest on Sundays!  Mark Your Calendars!

Battle Court H2H Free “5 AT 5” Contest on Sundays!  Mark Your Calendars!

After the 1:30pm Pelota matches, stick around as last season’s in-house Pick 6 handicapping contest to win $1,000 returns this season for the new and exciting Battle Court H2H Jai-Alai format as the “5 AT 5” contest to win $1,000. Those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H matches at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.  If there are no winners, the $1,000 will roll over to the following Sunday’s prize purse and $2,000 will be up for grabs.

In addition to being free, it gets better – there are 32 possible outcomes with this Pick 5 format compared to 64 possible outcomes with the Pick 6 format last year. You could say it’s twice as easy to win.

The same rules from last season apply. Only one entry person and you must be present to win. Your friendly bet takers will be distributing the 5 AT 5 contest forms to those in attendance. Make sure you are at the fronton before 5pm to get a good seat to see the spectacular Battle Court H2H action and for your chance to WIN free money!

Complete rules and restrictions can be found at the Magic City Jai Alai Fronton.

Joel (aka Jabracadabra)

Magic City Pelota Jai-Alai Games off to Phenomenal Start!

Magic City Pelota Jai-Alai Games off to Phenomenal Start!

Magic City Pelota games, formerly known as pari-mutuel Jai-Alai wagering games, got off to a phenomenal start for 2022 with the first two performances on Monday & Tuesday, February 14-15.  While the pari-mutuel wager options for the Pelota games have not changed from last year, the 2022 roster has changed and it’s bigger and better!  The Pelota roster grew in size to 26-players with the addition of six former Dania players and this has resulted in more competitive games and larger payoffs.

There were two large trifecta payoffs on Monday’s opener; the tough 4-6-7 trifecta paying $1,188.70 for the $1 ticket and the 7-6-5 trifecta paying $1,656.00 for the $1 ticket.  Overall for the first two days of Pelota games the average $1 trifecta payoff was a whopping $314!  The smallest trifecta for opening day was the common 4-3-2 trifecta combination paying $94.00 for the $1 ticket. Wagering pools were also much larger than they were when the 2021 season ended.  The trifecta pools for the first two days of 2022 were 50% higher than the November 2021 average trifecta pools.  One of the exacta pools was even larger than $500. These are all good signs showing that pari-mutuel wagering on the Magic City Pelota product is on the rise.

So far after the first two days of play, singles games win leaders are Carballo and Ikeda, both with 50% wins by each winning two of their four appearances in games 3 and 4.  Games 3 and 4 are referred to as the mid-games singles players.  The early game singles (ga 1,2) along with the late games singles (ga 6,8) have resulted in 8-different players winning these games for the first two days. The popular Golden Cesta Award for most singles wins each week will be extended 3-more playing days until Feb. 22, per Andrew Blechman, as the 2022 inaugural week was not a full week of games. The first Golden Cesta Award of 2022 should be quite a “Pelota” Battle!

Vuelo, an early game player, back for 2022 after taking a break from playing in the later half of 2021, got off to a quick start in early singles games with a win, place and a show in his four appearances, leading the early game players with 75% ITM (in the money).  Vuelo is also a ref in the Battle Court H2H games.  Douglas and Goixerri are the current late game singles ITM leaders with 75% each for their four appearances.

Doubles games (ga 5,7) are even more competitive this year.  There are currently 11-doubles teams until RonRon returns to play and will be teamed with Vuelo for a total of 12-Pelota game teams.  Ikeda-Bradley got off to an early lead in this first singles tournament for 2022 with two wins in their first 3-games.  They had a place in their other game and are the only team with 100% ITM.  The other two teams with one win each are Anderluck-Benny and Jeden-Goixerri.  Five of the eleven teams are currently 0% ITM at this very early stage, however, that will soon change.

Spectators are allowed to watch Pelota games on Sundays only for the 1:30 pm EST performance and fronton doors open for seating at 1:00 pm.  Pelota games are played at Magic City Casino and Jai-Alai at 1:30 pm EST on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday each week with the new and exciting Battle Court H2H matches following at 5:00 pm EST.  Be sure to tune in to YouTube’s The Jai-Alai Channel for Pelota games only and watchjaialai.com, along with other viewing options for the Battle Court H2H games.

Battle Court H2H games now feature the new Squad aspect with includes six singles game players and four doubles teams for each of the four Battle Court H2H Squads with six team members per Squad.  The four Squads are named the Cesta Cyclones, Chula Chargers, Rebote Renegades and Wall Warriors.  Two Squads square-off each Battle Court H2H day with 3-singles games and 2-doubles games.  Check out a previous Battle Court H2H blog post along with Jeff “Laca” Conway’s pelotapress.com for more details.  Fans can check out the current Battle Court H2H Squad point totals on the Magic City Casino website.  Sports wagering on Battle Court H2H games is currently being done through BetRivers.com in 7-states (AZ, CO, IA, IL, NJ, PA, VA).

Be sure to support the Pelota version of Jai-Alai by wagering on this pari-mutuel version of these Jai-Alai games. You can do the pari-mutuel wagers from many states through watchandwager.com and mywinners.com. Check out those sites for more details.

Steve M (aka straymar)

Magic City World Super Court Qualifier Today – “Effing Incredible”

Magic City World Super Court Qualifier Today – “Effing Incredible”

The first qualifier for the inaugural year of the $50,000 World Super Court professional doubles championship tournament was held today at 3-pm at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai in Miami, Florida with 8-teams participating.  There were a total of 7-matches and the volleys were long and the action was sizzling hot with the matches ending after 3 hours and 40 minutes.  The matches were all played under Magic City’s H2H sports betting format.

The final 2-teams guaranteed a spot in the October 13th finals at Magic City after today’s qualifier are Goixerri-Aratz and Douglas-Benny.  Goixerri-Aratz won the final match over Douglas-Benny and pocketed $2000 for the team while the 2nd place prize for Douglas-Benny was $1000.  The final match was a hotly contested match between these teams of brothers, all on the Magic City 2022 roster.  Goixerri-Aratz won the first set 6-5 while Douglas-Benny dominated the second set 6-3.  The final match went back and forth and reached a 5-5 tie where the winner of the next point determined the 1st place winners, Goixerri-Aratz. All players were amazing and Goixerri played practically flawlessly and the team appeared unstoppable. Goixerri will definitely be a major force to be reckoned with at Magic City Pelota games (aka pari-mutuel games).

The play was incredible by both teams and one needs to watch the matches to grasp the extremely high level of professional play at this event. It’s also hard to comprehend the amazing talent exerted by young Benny who just started his pro career last year at Magic City. The event should be available for follow-up viewing soon on watchjaialai.com.  Personally, this event provided a level of Jai-Alai play I’ve never witnessed before and I’ve watched many thousands of Jai-Alai games in Florida at nine different frontons, including national tournament events at the Palm Beach and Tampa frontons in the early 1980’s.  I’ve never uttered the words “f…ing incredible” more times in my life than what I uttered today watching these matches.

Here’s the scoop on all the scores from today’s incredible event:

Round 1:

Douglas-Benny beat Ikeda-Manny:  0-6, 6-5, 6-1 (Ikeda-Manny won the first 8-points of this match and Douglas-Benny still won the match).  Outstanding match, you need to see this!

Arrieta-Zulaika beat Jeden-Jairo:  4-6, 6-3, 6-0

Inaki-Julen beat Foronda-Amigorena:  6-3, 6-3

Goixerri-Aratz beat Bueno-Kubala:  6-1, 6-0

Round 2 Semi-Finals:

Douglas-Benny beat Arrieta-Zulaika:  6-5, 6-1

Goixerri-Aratz beat Inaki-Julen:  6-4, 6-2

Finals:

Goixerri-Aratz beat Douglas-Benny:  6-5, 3-6, 6-5 (Note:  1-more point won by Douglas-Benny overall 16-15)

The top two teams from today advance to the WSC October 13th finals at Magic City while the other two teams that won in Round 1 but lost in the Round 2 semi-finals will be eligible to play in the 2nd Qualifier on April 13th at Magic City.  The 3rd Qualifier is on June 8th at Magic City and the 4th Qualifier is slated for a date TBD in September overseas.  The World Super Court finals with the top 8-teams are October 13th at Magic City.   The World Super Court Finals first place team wins $25,000 while the 2nd place team wins $12,500.  World Super Court can be viewed on all platforms except YouTube’s The Jai-Alai Channel which is reserved for Magic City Pelota (pari-mutuel games).

Steve M.

Magic City Pelota Entries & Programs are Available Now!  Plus More Updates

Magic City Pelota Entries & Programs are Available Now!  Plus More Updates

Entries and programs for Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering games, now referred to as “Pelota” are available on the Magic City website and on links on the SayHiLi website for the Monday & Tuesday 1:30-pm performances next week.

Note that 4-players names have changed for the Battle Court H2H games to their last names, however, their previous Pelota season names will not change for Pelota games.  Anderluck, Cool Fitness, Juice and Tennessee will play under those names for Pelota but will be playing as Correa, Williams, Joseph and Roque for Battle Court H2H.  The BC H2H change for the four players is to accommodate the new sports betting fans with improved player recognition while still maintaining the original names for the Pelota fans who are used to their original playing names since 2018.  Stu perhaps can wordsmith this better but this is what I’ve gleaned from the conversation Thursday afternoon.

As of Thursday, the start date for El Barba in Pelota games has been delayed and he is now expected to be safe for a March 1 start.  The delayed start for El Barba is why Bueno, Bradley, Ben and Anderluck each have been back-filled into spots in Monday and Tuesday’s early Pelota games 1 & 2. Currently the Pelota doubles games feature 11 doubles teams with an additional team of Vuelo-RonRon expected to take the floor by March 1 when RonRon returns from his back injury.  All 11 current Pelota doubles teams will make their debut in games 5 and/or 7 during Monday’s 2022 season opener.  Check the entries for the teams.

Also, be sure to mark your calendars for the World Super Court 1st qualifier event which features 8-doubles team on Wednesday next week.  The first match will start at 3-pm EST and you can watch this on watchjaialai.com.

Now, here’s some info on Magic City Pelota and Battle Court H2H schedules including a quote from Stu Neiman.  Some fans don’t understand the days and times so here we go.  H2H games are the future of Jai-Alai.  Magic City asked the sports betting partner, BetRivers, what days and times Jai-Alai would have the best chance of succeeding and thus the 5-pm time slot on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday came to be.  Competing against NFL is a huge disadvantage so the Sunday plan changes to Saturday later in the year when NFL starts up again.  Also, some fans are curious as to why the Pelota games are before H2H at 1:30-pm instead of after the 5-pm H2H games.  Here is the direct quote from Stu, “Pelota is a better warm-up for H2H.”

Be sure to tune-in on Monday at 1:30-pm for the kick-off of Pelota games with the new and exciting Battle Court H2H games at 5-pm where the team concept comes into play.  As previously stated, the popular weekly FREE handicapping contest returns on week 2 on February 20th.  Listen to Andrew during the broadcasts next week for details.

Also, be sure to check Pelotapress.com regularly for more info and blog stories involving Magic City and the world of amateur Jai-Alai.

Thank you Magic City Jai-Alai!!  I’m looking forward to a fantastic year!!

Steve M.

SayHiLi Welcomes New Blog Poster “Jabracadabra”

SayHiLi Welcomes New Blog Poster “Jabracadabra”

New blog poster, Joel A, going by the name “Jabracadabra” has joined SayHiLi as a new blog poster for info and stories about Pelota and H2H Jai-Alai at Magic City.

Joel is relatively new to the sport of Jai-Alai, having come across Magic City Jai-Alai in early 2021 when searching the web for active sports during Covid times when sporting events were limited.  Joel and his wife traveled to the Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai from out-of-state for a weekend in 2021 where they witnessed a live performance and met players, JR, Stu and Andrew.  Joel even hit all the winners of the H2H 6-Picks contest during his visit to Magic City.

Joel has become a huge fan of Jai-Alai and SayHiLi is proud to have him on board to support the website and the sport of Jai-Alai.

Steve M.

World Super Court 1st Qualifying Event is February 16th at Magic City Jai-Alai at 3-pm EST

World Super Court 1st Qualifying Event is February 16th at Magic City Jai-Alai at 3-pm EST

The first of four qualifying events for the World Super Court Finals in October is being held at Magic City Jai-Alai on Wednesday, February 16th at 3-pm EST.  The four qualifying dates are 2/16, 4/13, 6/8 (these dates at Magic City), and one day in September for an overseas qualifier with a date TBD.  This year is the inaugural year of Magic City’s big money Jai-Alai doubles tournament open to Jai-Alai professionals of all nationalities called “World Super Court.”

Each of the four qualifying events will start with 4-matches of doubles teams, thus 8-doubles teams are involved.  The matches will be played using the H2H format.  All players must have recent professional Jai-Alai experience.  The top two teams from each qualifying day will be entered into the Thursday, October 13th finals where the eight teams will compete for the World Super Court prize money.  The day before the finals, Oct 12, is slated as a practice day for the finalists.

Here are the 8-teams for the first qualifying event on Wednesday next week and the first round matches that will be played for this event:

  • Benny-Douglas vs Ikeda-Manny
  • Zulaika-Arrieta vs Jeden-Jairo
  • Inaki-Julen vs Foronda-Amigorena
  • Goixerri-Aratz vs Bueno-Kubala

According to Stu Neiman, the April 3rd qualifying round currently has 3-players of the 16 who are officially signed-up at this time; Erik, Robin and RonRon.

The qualifying events can be seen on The Jai-Alai Channel on YouTube.

Steve M.

New Battle Court H2H Debuts on Feb 14 at 5-pm EST!

New Battle Court H2H Debuts on Feb 14 at 5-pm EST!

The new and exciting take on H2H Jai-Alai at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai, called Battle Court H2H, makes its debut on Monday, February 14th at 5-pm EST following the first PMW games of 2022 where the Cesta Cyclones take on the Chula Chargers.  Battle Court H2H is essentially a team concept for H2H that involves four Squads of 6-players per Squad that will compete against each other in singles and doubles H2H games.

On a Battle Court H2H day (following PMW games), a Squad will compete against another Squad with five events; 3-singles games and 2-doubles games.  A singles win is worth 1-point and a doubles win is worth 1.5 points.  Points are accumulated for the Battle Court season from Feb 14 through April 10 and the two Squads with the most points will square-off in the Battle Court Championship on April 12.  There is a bonus of $6,000 per player on the winning Squad.

The names of the four Squads are the Cesta Cyclones, Chula Chargers, Rebote Renegades and Wall Warriors.   There is one Captain per team, designated by (C) after the captain’s name.  The squads were able to formulate their own doubles teams.  No player could play on more than two teams and each player had to play on at least one team.  According to Stu Neiman, “The players are excited, it’s fun and the interest has been wonderful.  New synergies, sponsorships, exclusivity agreements and other sources of potential revenue are already opening up.  Which, in essence, means that the fixed odds, sports betting model is already working because it’s about far more than what is bet on each match.  BetRivers has even opened a line on which team will win the whole thing.” 

Scratches will be handled differently for Battle Court H2H.  A lower ranked player can fill in for a scratched player in singles or doubles, however, if a scratch occurs during a match, that match will be forfeited as in the past.  Rankings are 1-6 for singles (S1-S6) and 1-4 for doubles teams (D1-D4) within each Squad.  A singles S1 player competes against other S1 players in other Squads and likewise for the other singles ranks.  It’s different for doubles as D1 & D2 ranked teams can compete against each other and D3 & D4 ranked teams can compete against each other.  Here are the Squads with players, rankings and captain designations:

Cesta Cyclones:  S1 – Manu, S2 – Manny (C), S3 – Carballo, S4 – Ikeda, S5 – Jeden, S6 – Joseph

D1 – Carballo/Manu, D2 – Ikeda/Manny, D3 – Jeden/Manny, D4 – Joseph/Manu

Chula Chargers:  S1 – Douglas, S2 – Jairo, S3 – Benny, S4 – Correa, S5 – CRB, S6 – Roque (C)

D1 – Douglas/Benny, D2 – Jairo/Benny, D3 – CRB/Douglas, D4 – Correa/Roque

Rebote Renegades:  S1 – Goixerri, S2 – Aratz, S3 – Robin, S4 – Kubala, S5 – Ben (C), S6 – Williams

D1 – Goixerri/Aratz, D2 – Goixerri/Kubala, D3 – Robin/Ben, D4 – Williams/Aratz

Wall Warriors:  S1 – Inaki (C), S2 – Nicolas, S3 – Julen, S4 – Bueno, S5 – Bradley, S6 – Diaz

D1 – Inaki/Nicolas, D2 – Inaki/Julen, D3 – Bueno/Nicolas, D4 – Diaz/Bradley

H2H Sports Betting is now expanded into seven states under BetRivers.com and is also approved in Nevada, however there is no partner yet (like BetRivers) to carry it.  The seven states now with Magic City H2H sports betting through BetRivers are Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Steve M.

Magic City Jai-Alai Pari-Mutuel Wagering Kicks-Off Feb 14 at 1:30 pm EST

Magic City Jai-Alai Pari-Mutuel Wagering Kicks-Off Feb 14 at 1:30 pm EST

The 2022 Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering (PMW) season starts on February 14th with an expanded roster.  Manu (Ladutxe), Inaki (Goitia), Nicolas (Yeche), Goixerri, Aratz and Robin will be playing in the short-court Magic City Jai-Alai PMW games.  Jairo has also been added to the MC roster but won’t be playing PMW games as he will be judging PMW games.  Manny, aka Manuel, the top Calder player, will continue judging PMW games and both he and Jairo will be competing in the Battle Court H2H games this year.

The PMW games have no changes in number of games or bet types offered.  There will be 3-categories of singles games this year; early (games 1,2), middle (games 3,4) and late (games 6,8).  Vuelo is back and will be playing in early games.  RonRon will still be sidelined at the start due to his back, but is expected to start playing in PMW games at the end of this month.  Spinner is still recovering from his injury but could be back in May/June.  Both Vuelo and RonRon will be judging Battle Court H2H games.  Norge Alvarez (played at Calder) will continue judging both PMW and H2H at Magic City.  He’s been judging since 2018.  Doubles games will continue being games 5 and 7.

The scouting report on Magic City Jai-Alai has been 100% great news.  Practices are high-energy and for the first time the Magic City players have picked-up where they left off the previous year.  Nicolas has been standing out and Manu has been adjusting well to the smaller court. Both Stu and Andrew have used the same word in describing the practices at Magic City so far; FANTASTIC!

There are (4) name changes on the roster for previous Magic City players (now using their last name); Juice is now Joseph, Anderluck is now Correa, Tennessee is Roque and Cool Fitness is Williams.  The one and only El Barba is still playing under the name El Barba.  He had knee surgery over the break and is expected to be playing in PMW games next week in the first two singles games.

The highly popular $1 Pick 5 Jackpot wager called the Jai-5 is expected to be more difficult to hit this year with the addition of new players making singles games more competitive.  A bettor can only win the Jai-5 jackpot if they have the only winning ticket correctly selecting all five winners of games 3-7.  The minimum jackpot is $2,000 if you are the only winning ticket.  Likewise, the Mighty Ocho, a $1 Pick 8 Jackpot wager for games 1-8 will also be more difficult to hit.  Last year the first ever Mighty Ocho was won by a lucky bettor and they were paid the minimum $5,000 for that score.  The largest Jai-5 in Magic City history was a whopping $27,348 last April to one lucky winner.

Be sure to watch Magic City PMW games the day after the Super Bowl, one week from Monday!  Battle Court H2H makes its debut at 5-pm following the PMW performance Monday the 14th.  The popular H2H handicapping contest will continue and start on February 20th. Stay tuned for blog posts on Magic City Battle Court H2H and World Super Court qualifying rounds!

Steve M.

WANTED:  Jai-Alai betting tickets

WANTED: Jai-Alai betting tickets

I’m trying to complete a Jai-Alai betting ticket collection and need tickets from the following (5) US Jai-Alai frontons as I don’t have a single ticket from any of these:

Palm Beach, Newport, Orlando, Melbourne (aka Brevard), Kings Court

I have other Jai-Alai memorabilia for barter for your tickets (including programs, postcards, brochures, matchbook covers/matchbooks, bumper stickers, license plates, caps, pens, photos, advertisements and more) or can pay good ole cash if the prices are reasonable. I also have more of the same type of greyhound racing memorabilia along with horse track betting tickets if you wish to barter for those type of memorabilia items.

If you should have any older betting tickets (1936 through 1960’s) from any of the early Jai-Alai frontons, please contact me. I’m only looking for very good to excellent quality tickets where the print is all very clear to read (not a fan of tickets with faded or incomplete print). I’m not interested in admission tickets and not Tote test tickets either; only actual pari-mutuel betting tickets. I’m always on the lookout for more tickets and ones of different tote styles and wager types too. I don’t have any tickets for a Jai-Alai Pick 6 bet and some of those would be nice to own. There are some frontons where I only have several tickets (i.e. Hamilton) and would like to acquire more. I do have a pretty ample supply of Big Bend and Ocala betting tickets. I would like to acquire enough extra Jai-Alai betting tickets to donate a complete set to Jeff “Laca” Conway’s Jai-Alai & Baseball Museum in Seminole FL so they can be enjoyed by visitors. Any help would be much appreciated!

Please contact me through the following website email address if you can help and include your name. I can’t respond immediately, but will be monitoring at least once a day for responses so please bear with me. Please only legitimate responses to this request will be entertained. I will only deal with continental USA and Canada for shipping/receiving items. Here is the contact email: [email protected]

Thanks again! Steve Martin (aka straymar)

Help keep US Jai-Alai alive by supporting Magic City Jai-Alai

Latest Magic City News – Court Change & Expanded Customer Base

Latest Magic City News – Court Change & Expanded Customer Base

Recently I had a pre-holiday phone call with Stu Neiman and received some interesting news.  The Magic City Jai-Alai court has been stained black.  The intent of this is to make the pelota easier to track for H2H Jai-Alai fans, many new to the sport, thus enhancing the H2H viewing experience.  Now this is not “painting” as some might think, staining the indoor concrete floor is completely different. The OB line is still red, just like before.

I asked Stu if there were any new additions to states approved for H2H and was pleasantly surprised with the news that Nevada is now approved.  Nevada should be huge exposure for Magic City short-court Jai-Alai with the numerous sports books throughout the Nevada casinos and with Vegas/Reno still being popular vacation destinations.   This now makes (4) states approved for H2H:  Iowa, Illinois, Arizona and now Nevada.  More states are expected to follow suit for sports betting approval for the exciting H2H games in 2022.

Also, during this off-season for the players and staff, Magic City management has been relentless in its continued push for expanded customer base for the pari-mutuel games.  There is super high interest in the Philippines to carry pari-mutuel wagering and according to Stu the fans are crazy for Jai-Alai there.  It will also be interesting to see how much the Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering pools spike with the closure of the Dania fronton as die-hard Jai-Alai fans will certainly want to watch and wager on some of the Dania players at Magic City.

Seven Dania players will be playing in Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel games, H2H games or a combination of both types of games.  Those players are as follows (by their player names known to fans):  Goixerri, Ladutxe, Jairo, Yeche, Goitia, Aratz and Robin.  Goixerri did not play the final fall meet at Dania as he was recovering from injury but did compete in some overseas partidos.  Ladutxe has been the best back-court player at Dania in recent years.  Jairo had been the highly dominant Dania player in early game singles.  Yeche had some outstanding play in the final meet at Dania (both early and late games) and that was perhaps his best meet ever.  Goitia played towards the end of the final Dania meet as he was recovering from an injury during the 2nd Annual USNJAC tourney at Magic City.  Goitia plays extremely competitively on the Magic City short-court.

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Magic City meet with the expanded roster which starts on February 14th with pari-mutuel performances on Sunday through Tuesday at 1:30-pm and H2H games which follow at 5-pm EST.  It’s been boring and difficult to fill the void with no US  Jai-Alai during this downtime, but I understand the need for players and staff to have some well-deserved time off.  Also, the World Super Court doubles tournament which debuts in 2022 should be a big hit with a display of some amazing talent, big prize money and no restrictions of “US Citizens only” as there is for the USNJAC singles and doubles annual tournaments.

Thanks to Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai for helping to keep the sport of Jai-Alai alive in the USA and a special thanks to Stu for the updates!

Steve Martin (aka straymar)

29-Nov-2021

Magic City Jai-Alai 2022 Updates – Roster & World Super Court

Magic City Jai-Alai 2022 Updates – Roster & World Super Court

On December 2nd, 2022 Stu Neiman confirmed the following additions at Magic City. “Manu Ladutxe, Jairo Baroja, Robin Flores, Nicolas Eyheragaray, Inaki Goitiandia, Aratz Mendizabal & Ekaitz Mendizabal will join the roster in 2022. Each will play either parimutuel games, H2H matches or both.”


“Based on the success and enthusiasm surrounding our annual U.S. National jai-Alai Championship we will host the inaugural “World Super Court” Doubles Championship at Magic City in October of 2022.” Details are still being finalized but this event will offer $50,000 in total prize money and will be open to all nationalities.

Magic City Jai-Alai 2021 Wrap-Up and What’s New for 22!

Magic City Jai-Alai 2021 Wrap-Up and What’s New for 22!

Exciting short-court Jai-alai action at its best concluded on November 23rd at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami with (8) games of exciting PMW (Pari-Mutuel Wagering) games and (4) nail-biting H2H Doubles sports betting matches which followed at 5-pm.  Be sure to watch the replays of H2H games on the new exclusive H2H website at watchjaialai.com

The PMW game replays are still on The Jai-Alai Channel on YouTube.

Here is the complete list of Non-Monetary and Cash Awards for the 2022 Magic City Jai-Alai Regular Season (May 1 thru Nov 23)

Non-Monetary Awards (Apple product awards):

  • Most Improved Singles Player – Ben
  • Most Improved Doubles Player – Cool Fitness
  • Coach’s Award – Tennessee

Cash Awards

Singles Championship: 

  • First – Douglas with 64 wins (30.3%) $15,000
  • Second – Ben with 59 wins (16.0%) $10,000
  • Third – Julen with 58 wins (15.8%) $5,000
  • 4th and 5th were Benny (52 wins, 14.5%) and El Barba (50 wins, 15.0%)
  • 6th were Anderluck and Ikeda tied with 43-wins each
  • The remaining players were 37 wins or less

The complete Singles Championship stats can be found on SayHili.com under Wagering Info

2021 Doubles Tournament #3

  • First – Kubala-Benny with 26 wins (25.5%) $10,000
  • Second – Diaz-Douglas with 18 wins (20.7%) $5,000

The complete Doubles Tournament stats for all teams can be found on SayHili.com under Wagering Info

November 23rd Jackpot Force-Out Info

  • Jai-5 ($1 Pick 5 Jackpot Wager) – (2) winning tickets with 5/5 correct winners paid $1,000 each
  • Mighty Ocho ($1 Pick 8 Jackpot Wager) – (3) winning tickets with 6/8 correct winners paid $1,666.60 each

Regular Season Singles Stats (top 5 highest Win % and ITM %)

  • Win %:  Douglas 30.3, RonRon 23.6, Ben 16.0, Julen 15.8, Spinner 14.7
  • ITM %:  Douglas 59.7, RonRon 55.7, Spinner 48.7, Benny 47.2, Bueno 42.6

2022 Schedule (PMW and H2H games)

Here are the 2022 pari-mutuel wagering season and H2H sports betting match dates known at this time (last updated 11/14):

  • February 14 through April 19: PMW (pari-mutuel wagering) on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday at 1:30-pm and H2H matches at 5-pm
  • May 1 through August 14: PMW on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday at 1:30-pm and H2H matches at 5-pm
  • break for the 2022 USNJAC Tournament
  • end of August through November: PMW on Saturday, Monday & Tuesday at 1:30-pm and H2H matches at 5-pm

Other Info and Roster Will Be Expanding

The players have December off and will have a team meeting on January 15 with practice starting on January 17.  There will be some roster additions of Dania players (to be announced after the conclusion of the final Dania season, closing day Sunday 11/28).  All contracts have been executed.  Stay tuned for the roster additions.  I understand that roster additions are due to the expansion of H2H with more matches expected to be available for sports betting in 2022.

A few players will also be Jai-Alai Judges.  Note that if a player Judges in PMW games they won’t be playing in PMW games, and likewise for H2H games.  Some players will only play in PMW or H2H games; however the majority of the 2022 roster will participate in both PMW and H2H.

We’ve been “teased” by Stu that there could be changes to PMW doubles game tournaments with more teams?  Stay tuned for more info on this. 

Amazing Singles Point During Game 4 of PMW on November 23rd Closing Day

You must see this incredible long point played between Ben and Ikeda.  Check out the replays on The Jai-Alai Channel if you missed this one!  This could be the longest singles point I’ve ever witnessed since watching Jai-Alai games in 1978.  Lots of great catches and shots by both players!

H2H Jai-Alai Match Sports Betting Now Legal in 3-States

Magic City Jai-Alai H2H sports betting is now legal in three states (Iowa, Illinois, Arizona) with more states expected to get approved soon.  I’m told that state approvals can happen pretty quickly and hopefully more will be ready for the February 2022 H2H games.  Currently the Jai-Alai H2H sports wagering is done through BetRivers.com.

Background Info on the Reduced SayHiLi Content Since September

Blog stories and info on SayHiLi were greatly reduced from September through the end of the meet.  I apologize for that and want to explain.  Starting in November 2020 I had several strokes, one a mini-stroke and another much more serious one in mid-April this year (actually on a Friday night after the conclusion of watching Dania games).  This led to lots of testing to try to find out what was causing the strokes.  In September I was diagnosed with a severely hardened aortic valve which needed replacing.  I had to undergo several procedures to help determine the best way forward and then on November 9th I had the TAVR procedure for that valve replacement.  I was released from the hospital the following day and have been recovering the last two weeks.

When I first awoke after “coming to” after surgery, the first thing I said was “I think I was just at a Jai-Alai match.”  Of course I then realized “Oh shit” the recovery room nurses probably think I’m crazy and have no idea what I was mumbling about and I felt the need to explain what “Jai-Alai” was.  When my wife was allowed into the hospital room I was moved to, she said I was “rambling on” about Jai-Alai to those nurses when she walked in.  Hopefully, God willing, I will be able to continue helping to support the SayHiLi website in an increased capacity going forward.  I’m grateful that Magic City short-court Jai-Alai survives and hope more Jai-Alai fans make the transition to watching these games and wagering on PMW games to help keep the PMW games alive.

The Magic City 2022 season will be the best season yet and the quality of play at Magic City Jai-Alai keeps on getting better.  To the current “nay-sayers” of Magic City I would say, please watch and give it the fair chance it deserves.  This is all we have left now and your support is needed!  The Magic City short-court Jai-Alai games are the fastest and most exciting Jai-Alai games I’ve ever seen, trust me on this, you won’t be disappointed!!

Happy Holidays!!

Steve M.

Magic City Jai-Alai Awards!  Jackpots Forced-Out on Tuesday the 23rd!

Magic City Jai-Alai Awards! Jackpots Forced-Out on Tuesday the 23rd!

The 2021 Magic City Jai-Alai year closes out on Tuesday, November 23rd where the Mighty Ocho Pick 8 Jackpot wager and the Jai-5 Pick 5 Jackpot wager will both be forced-out to the winners with the most correct winners. Jackpots of a minimum $5,000 for the Mighty Ocho and $2,000 for the Jai-5 will be split among ticket holders correctly selecting the most winners. Should the Jai-5 Jackpot not be hit by a single winning ticket on Monday, that Jackpot will be far in excess of $2,000 for the Force-Out on Tuesday.

Saturday’s Pari-Mutuel Performance brought the distribution of the non-monetary awards at Magic City Jai-Alai. Here is a list of those awards and the 2021 recipients:

Most Improved Singles Player for 2021: Ben

Most Improved Doubles Player for 2021: Cool Fitness

Team Unity Award for 2021: Tennessee

We don’t know what this award (Team Unity Award) is officially called, however it’s for the player that goes above and beyond on the court and in the locker room. Tennessee continues to win this award every year. He’s the fellow bringing in snacks for the team, he’s out there wiping sweat off the floor when someone takes a spill and he’s there to help anyone when needed. Tennessee is an all-around Mr. Nice Guy and respects everyone.

Tuesday’s closing day will bring the distribution of the cash awards for the Singles and Doubles Championships. The team of Kubala-Benny have locked-up 1st place in the Doubles Championship with Diaz-Douglas the 2nd place winners. In Singles with 4-games left for the leaders to compete, Douglas leads with 62 wins, Ben is 2nd with 58 wins and Julen is 3rd with 57 wins, so 1st could still be a tie if Julen wins all 4-games and the battle for 2nd is still up for grabs. Expect some hot competition in the singles games in the final two days!

SayHiLi would like to give honorable mention to Spinner who has been a great addition to the Magic City roster. Spinner has done a great job mentoring Magic City players. The team of Cool Fitness-Spinner was in contention for the Doubles Championship when Spinner suffered an achilles tear during an H2H match recently. Spinner will return approximately mid-season in 2022. SayHiLi wishes him the best! Magic City fans will be glad to see the return of Spinner and RonRon in 2022.

Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel games and H2H games will resume in 2022 on February 14th and run through November. SayHiLi expects the pari-mutuel betting pools to be significantly larger at Magic City Jai-Alai in 2022 with the closure of Dania Jai-Alai. Dania’s last pari-mutuel performance ever will be held in one short week on Sunday, November 28th. Be sure to visit there soon if you haven’t already done so.

Be on the lookout for announcements coming out after November 28th on roster additions for Magic City Jai-Alai!

Copyright SayHiLi.com 2020