Week 7 was filled with favorites winning many Magic City Jai-alai games this week and it proved to be a Jackpot bonanza for some lucky Jai-5 bettors in Week 11 with the shortened singles roster. The last 3-games of the Jai-5 wager all week, games 5-7, were won by one of the three strongest players; RonRon, Kubala and Carballo. In fact all of the four late games 5 through 8 were won by these same players, except for the game 8 Sunday finale for the week which was won by El Barba who got a win chance after RonRon was called for juggling when he had a game point attempt in the 9-point game. Thus an amazing 27 of the 28 games for games 5-8 were won by one of the three strongest players.
The first two legs of the Jai-5 wager for week 11, games 3 and 4, were all won by 5-players. Those games were the tougher games of the Jai-5 sequence for the week (in hindsight). Bradley, a strong late game player in the 2019 meet, had 6 wins in 14 games for games 3 & 4. The other 4-winners of games 3 & 4 for the week were: Ben with 2 of 8, El Barba with 3 of 14, Tennessee with 2 of 14, and Bueno with 1 of 8 (and a duly noted respectable 3-places in those 8-games for Bueno too). The following players were shut-out in the game 3 & 4 start of the Jai-5: CRB was 0 of 14, Fred was 0 of 12, Juice was 0 of 14, Legend was 0 of 14. CRB who before Week 11 was perhaps considered the most improved player for the 2020 meet fell into a slump with a record of 42-0-0-4 for Week 11 for games he played. We expect the Jai-alai gods to treat CRB much more kindly in Week 12 so bettors better beware as he can be a real threat in the early games!
The huge amount of top talent winning during the 5-game Jai-5 sequence resulted in surprising Jackpot payouts for 6 of the 7 performances, with multiple jackpot winners only once which was in the first evening performance of the year, the Saturday 8-pm performance. This Jai-5 result was considered to be the easiest Jai-5 of the week and thus definitely wasn’t surprising when 2-winners split the consolation payout since both winning tickets had 5 of 5 correct. Those 5 of 5 winning tickets each paid $286.80.
The winning Jai-5 jackpot on Sunday’s performance was an interesting one with El Barba winning both games 3 & 4 (game 3 from the lucrative 3-post and a perfect game from the tough 5-post). That perfect game win from the 5-post involved beating opponents Legend, Bueno, Bradley, Ben, CRB, and then Tennessee to seal the deal on the perfect game. Overall for Week 11, El Barba had a very good week with a record of 42-6-8-4. To complete the final 3-legs of that Jai-5, Kubala won game 5 from the 3-post, and RonRon won the last 2-games of the Jai-5 with a perfect game from the 5-post and then running to game point from the 2-post in the Jai-5 finale, losing the perfect game point with an unlucky Magic City bounce off the back wall that was impossible to return. RonRon got another chance to win after Kubala in post 1 lost game point and won the game for the lucky bettor that used RonRon on their winning ticket in the finale. RonRon was the only ticket live in the finale for the Jai-5 Jackpot and came through for the very lucky winner.
Before Week 11, the longest winning streak for the Jai-5 Jackpot was three jackpot payouts in a row during the 2019 season. Now the record stands at five jackpot payouts in a row for the first 5-performances of Week 11 for this popular wager at Magic City Jai-alai, with bettors winning a historic 5 of 5 winners for seven consecutive performances. The Jai-5 wagering handle for the week ranged from a minimum of $749 up to a maximum of $1,615 with an average of $1,227 wagered per performance.
Overall for Week 11, El Barba had a very respectable week with a record of 42-6-8-4. RonRon won the Golden Cesta Award with a record of 28-13-7-1, a record indicative of a true Jai-alai champion with lots of wins, less places, and even fewer shows. Early in the week it looked like Kubala was a shoe-in for the Golden Cesta Award, but RonRon’s surge late in the week stole the show and also moved him up to 2nd place in the Singles Championship with 32-wins for the season, just 2-wins shy from Douglas’s lead of 34-wins. Kubala finished the week with a record of 29-9-6-3 (a highly respectable 31% wins and 62% ITM). Ikeda is still sitting in 3rd place with 30-wins in the Singles Championship, but other contenders are quickly closing in. We’re sure Douglas, Ikeda and Anderluck have been watching with keen interest, trying to find their opponents weaknesses, and can’t wait to get back into the fast-paced action of the exciting short-court version of Jai-alai at Magic City.
A special thanks to Andrew for shining like a superstar by pulling off double duty while Stu is away, plus running the Magic City Fantasy League! We’re sure Andrew will be glad when Stu returns. We miss the lively banter between Stu and Andrew and Stu’s Jai-alai stories.