Magic City Jai-alai has a new bet this year called the Mighty Ocho. The Mighty Ocho is a Jackpot type wager for $1 where one picks the winners of games 1 through 8. It has a guaranteed jackpot of $2,000 to a single winner. Currently, the jackpot is at $1,753.20 which is still under the $2,000 guarantee. Thus, if one picks all 8-winners now, they would get a $2,000 payoff. The Mighty Ocho works exactly like the “Jai-ly” popular Jai-5 wager which was introduced to Magic City Jai-alai customers after the start of the 2019 season. The breakdown is as follows: 20% takeout for the house, 40% goes to the bettor(s) with the most winners, the other 40% goes to the jackpot carryover pool.
Is the Mighty Ocho as bad as one of the oldest Jai-alai blog site says it is? Let’s explore the truth on this with some simple facts from the Mighty Ocho history. Granted the Mighty Ocho is not for everyone, but one thing for sure, the Mighty Ocho is more popular than betting on Win tickets, Place tickets or Show tickets at Magic City Jai-alai and even Dania Jai-alai. Therefore it’s certainly not in the bottom 3 least popular wagers in recent Jai-alai history for sure, so SayHiLi doesn’t understand what all the Mighty Ocho “whining” is all about.
Is this wager impossible to hit? Apparently not! Recently on August 22 at the 4-pm performance one lucky bettor came very close by selecting 7 of the 8 winners. Now the MO pool was only $39 for that performance, and the consolation payoff is 40% of the pool, so the winner received $15.60 for their winning ticket (there was only one winning ticket with 7 of 8). Another time earlier this year, on the May 17 Sunday matinee performance, one bettor had the first 6-winners selected correctly, and had two numbers onto one number to complete their ticket. That must have been pretty exciting for that bettor. This tidbit of info was found out by SayHiLi with their numerous connections with Jai-alai bettors supporting Magic City Jai-alai. So, apparently, it’s not as difficult of a Pick 8 as the Pick 8’s in the past (i.e. Palm Beach Jai-alai’s guaranteed $50,000 Pick 8 in the 1992-93 era). Handicappers at Magic City Jai-alai are among some of the best and handicapping at Magic City isn’t as difficult as Jai-alai in the past since there is more disparity between player’s records. Win records over 40% in singles for players like Douglas make wagers like the Mighty Ocho and the Jai-5 a lot more attractive and interesting that’s for sure. We’ve never seen win records like this before.
Let’s take a look at the statistics on the Mighty Ocho first mandatory payout that occurred on the June 28 Sunday matinee. We understand the Mighty Ocho is up for grabs with another mandatory payout at the end of the Edgewater meet at Magic City. We believe this is perhaps on Sunday, August 30, but we will keep you posted on this as that’s an important date for anyone wanting a shot at a BIG payoff – YES, mandatory payout is Sunday, the last day of Week 17 (8/26 update).
The first MO mandatory had a jackpot of $1,631.60 going into the Sunday matinee (currently the MO pool is $122 higher than this). There was $4,293 wagered into the first mandatory payout. There were (2) winners that correctly selected 6 of the 8 winners and each winning ticket paid an impressive $2,533. That’s pretty damn good for a days work. Had only (1) person selected 6 of 8, they would have scored a payoff of a whopping $5,066! This next mandatory payout coming up could easily pay back even more than $5,066. Keep that thought in your mind as these bets only cost $1.00 each.
There have been 93-total Mighty Ocho opportunities this year. Let’s exclude the mandatory payout event and take a look at the results for the other 92-events (# of Winners Correct, How Many Times, Average $1 Payoff). The average Mighty Ocho betting pool for these 92-events was $92. What is usually seen when bettors hear about an upcoming mandatory payoff is a drop in wagering activity and waiting for the mandatory payout. Perhaps that is the part of the reason for the recent drop-off in the Mighty Ocho wagering activity?
x/8 Correct: # Winners then Average $1 Payoff
7/8: 1x $15.60 (pool was $39 this event)
6/8: 12x $56.90
5/8: 24x $21.50
4/8: 29x $21.80
3/8: 18x $6.40
2/8: 8x $3.20
So, is this “Mighty Ocho” really not so mighty? LOL C’mon give Magic City a break, enough of the BS and Magic City bashing at every chance and trying to tell them how to run their business. Magic City Jai-alai has made a lot of great decisions in every area and short-court Jai-alai is rising in popularity! They are to be commended for what they have done. It’s pretty amazing they’ve provided sports fans this great opportunity to watch and wager from home during this awful covid mess! As said before, not all bets are for all customers. Casinos have penny slots all the way up to a High Limit slot area, so why shouldn’t Jai-alai have an array of different options for customers. SayHiLi applauds Magic City Jai-alai for offering customers a variety of wagers on the wagering menu. Time to stick a fork in the Mighty Ocho whining……is it ever going to stop……enough said!!! Like a famous Jai-alai fan says “You know who you are.”