Sports Betting Wagers – Jai-Alai fans can wager on Magic City Battle Court Jai-Alai matches between two singles players or doubles teams. Currently there are (5) teams or squads for Battle Court with 6-players per team and there are inter-squad matches on 3-days per week during the Battle Court seasons. The teams are the Chargers, Cyclones, Devils, Renegades and Warriors. Sports betting on Battle Court Jai-Alai matches is currently legal in some states (originated in Feb 2022) and is currently being done through partner BetRivers.com.
Pelota (aka pari-mutuel wagering for Jai-Alai) – Magic City Jai-alai offers the same kind of pari-mutuel wagers as found at thoroughbred horse tracks, harness racing, quarter horse racing and greyhound race tracks. One can wager at the Jai-alai fronton or off-site at a simulcast partner site or an ADW which offers Jai-alai on their wagering menu. A simulcast partner site could be another racetrack, casino or OTB (off-track-betting) offering the option to place wagers on Jai-alai. Wagering at the Jai-alai fronton or off-site at a simulcast partner can be done one of two ways: with a mutuel teller who sells/cashes tickets or with a self-service betting terminal at that location (sometimes referred to as a SAM). ADW stands for Advance-Deposit Wagering. Advance-Deposit Wagering (ADW) is a form of wagering where one can wager from home or other location using their computer or mobile device, or even phone-in bets in some cases. ADW wagering requires bettors to set up and fund a wagering account before being allowed to place wagers (no credit allowed). An ADW account has to be set up in advance and can usually take from 1-5 days to set-up until one is able to place wagers. Watch and Wager (watchandwager.com) is the industry leader for ADW for Jai-alai games. Phone wagering is not one of the wagering options offered by Watch and Wager, however, they have a top-notch customer service team ready to answer your questions and help you set-up an account. Watch and Wager even offers a new account deposit bonus. Other wagering options for Jai-alai can be seen on this site under the menu heading “Where to Bet & Watch.”
Below are the Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wager types, minimum base wager amounts, number of possible combos, along with wager descriptions, examples and other information to help the newcomer to Jai-alai. Jai-alai games are very exciting and usually take from 10-20 minutes each and a Jai-alai venue typically offers from 9-12 games during a performance. Jai-alai games are far more exciting than watching horses or greyhounds racing around a track which never last more than 2-minutes and can even be over in 30-seconds or less. The excitement of a Jai-alai game offers much more bang for the buck! One doesn’t have to wager to enjoy the excitement of Jai-alai games. Jai-alai games can be viewed LIVE and for FREE on the Jai-Alai Channel.
Note: ADW wagering – Use WatchandWager.com (accounts allowed in many states, check with customer service for availability). Connecticut residents are restricted and cannot open WatchandWager accounts and must use MyWinners.com.
Wager Type
Minimum On-Line Base Wager Magic City
# of Possible Combos
Wager Description / Examples
Games the Wager is Available
Win
$1
8
You win if your number finishes First
Note: $1 base wager Win betting allowed for Magic City on-line wagers.
All games
Place
$1
8
You win if your number finishes First or Second
Note: $1 base wager Place betting allowed for Magic City on-line wagers
All games
Show
$1
8
You win if your number finishes First, Second or Third. This is the most conservative wager in Jai-alai, a possible good starting point for making one’s first Jai-alai wager.
Note: $1 base wager allowed for Magic City on-line wagers.
Win, Place and Show wagers are the most conservative of wagers at Jai-alai. The drawbacks for these wager types are the small betting pools and low payoffs. The vast majority of Jai-alai bettors prefer the other wager types that return higher prices.
All games
Quiniela
$1
28
You win the quiniela by picking numbers that finish First and Second in either order. For example, if you select Quiniela 1-3, you win if the result is 1-3 or 3-1. Quiniela’s are good conservative bets for beginning Jai-alai bettors.
Boxing: boxing 135 gives you all 3 possibilities (13, 15, 35) and costs $3 total, boxing 4-numbers costs $6, boxing 5 numbers costs $10
Wheeling: wheel 1/234 gives you 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 and costs $3 total, a $1 wheel 1/ALL costs $7 and if the 1 comes first or second you win on this wager.
All games
Exacta or
Perfecta
$1
56
You win by picking numbers that finish First and Second in exact order. For example, if you select 3-1, you win if the exact result is 3-1. A 1-3 result would be a losing wager.
Boxing: boxing 13 gives you both Exacta orders (1-3 and 3-1) and costs $2 total, boxing 3-numbers costs $6, boxing 4-numbers costs $12, boxing 5-numbers costs $20.
Wheeling: wheel 1/234 gives you 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 and costs $3 total, if you put 1 second and play 234/1 it gives you 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 for $3 more, $1 wheel 1/ALL costs $7 and you win the wager if 1 wins the game.
All games
Daily Double
$1
64
You win if your selections finish First in 2-consecutive games, if nobody has both winners you receive a consolation payout for having one game correct. This wager is added to the Magic City wagering menu for the start of the 2021 regular season starting May 1.
Games 1&2
Trifecta
aka Tri
$0.50
336
Your selections must be in exact order for first, second, third for a straight trifecta selection. If you wager 3-1-7, the 3 must win, 1 must be second, 7 must be third.
Boxing: boxing 137 gives you all 6 orders and costs $3 total, box 4 numbers costs $12, box 5-numbers costs $30, box 6-numbers costs $60.
Wheeling: wheel 5/13 gives you 5-1-3 and 5-3-1 and costs $1 total, wheel 4/123 for $3, wheel 5/1234 for $6, wheel 6/12345 for $10, wheel 7/123456 for $15, wheel 8/ALL/ALL for $21
Additional Info:
Trifecta betting is the most popular bet at Jai-alai and the largest betting pools.
50c exact order trifecta bets are allowed for on-line betting (i.e. 3-1-7 straight for 50c total).
The 1-2-4 trifecta box is the most frequent winning trifecta box at Jai-alai and considered a conservative wager if betting on the trifecta.
All games
Super
$0.10
1680
The Superfecta (or Super) wager – your selections must be in exact order for first, second, third and fourth for a straight super. Boxing and wheeling are the most popular methods for wagering on the Super:
Box 4-numbers for a cost of $2.40 (all 4-numbers must be in the top 4). Popular 4-number boxes are: 1234, 1357, 2468, 1257, 2357. A few superfecta boxes that can be high yield returns are these 4-number boxes: 1467, 2467
Box 5-numbers for $12, Box 6-numbers for $36.
High roller wagers: Box 7-numbers for $84, Box ALL for $168 (covers all combos).
Wheel 1/2468, total of 24 combos for a total of $2.40.
Improve your chances and wheel 1/ALL/ALL/ALL for all 210 combinations with 1-post winning the game for only $21 (the 1-wins the game and you have a winning bet).
Occasionally, a few bettors take a stab at a 10-cent box ALL on the superfecta wager for a total cost of $168. The reward can be very lucrative, however, it can also result in a big loss if a heavy favorite wins, or several top players are in the top 4 (thus a low paying super).
Tip on Superfecta wagering – a good source is under Statistical Analysis on Tiger’s Jai-alai Heaven for probabilities for all 1680-superfecta possibilities (assuming all players are of equal ability).
Magic City:
No longer available
Jai-5 or
Pick 5 Jackpot
$1
32,768
You win the Jackpot if your selections finish first in 5-consecutive games AND you have the ONLY winning ticket, if nobody has all 5-winners there are consolation payouts for those tickets with the most correct winners (i.e. usually 4 of 5 games or 3 of 5 games). The Jackpot keeps growing every performance there isn’t a single winning ticket with all 5-winners and can be a very exciting wager. Jai-5 is a $2,000 minimum guarantee payoff if you are the Single winning ticket for the 2020 season.
Note: Jai-5 Jackpot bets have the largest payoffs at Jai-alai and were introduced after the start of the 2019 Magic City season. The largest payoff to date has been an amazing $27,348!
Magic City:
Games 3-7
Note: The new Mighty Ocho (a Pick 8 Jackpot wager) has been added to the 2020 Magic City Jai-alai season and works the same way as the Jai-5 Jackpot Pick 5 wager, the only difference is you must be the ONLY winning ticket picking 8-consecutive winners to hit the Jackpot. This wager is also a $1 minimum bet and starts on game 1 (runs games 1-8). The jackpot has a $5,000 guarantee to a single winning ticket for the 2021 regular season. The same takeout rate, consolation payouts, and rules apply for this wager as for the Jai-5 (or Pick 5 Jackpot). There are a lot of Pick 8 combos making it very challenging to hit all 8-winners. The total number of possibilities is 8 to the 8th power, which is 1 in 16,777,216 possibilities. Hats off to any bettor who can successfully win a Mighty Ocho Jackpot! We know a Pick 8 wager was offered at Palm Beach Jai-alai in 1992/1993 time frame, but there was never a time at Palm Beach where someone correctly selected all 8-winners. A Magic City bettor hit all 8-winners on June 14, 2021 for the $5,000 guaranteed jackpot and was the first ever in Jai-alai history to accomplish this feat!