Type of sport
Jai alai ( : [ˈxai aˈlai]) is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by👄 accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker cesta.
It is a variation of Basque pelota.
The term jai alai, coined👄 by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where matches take👄 place.
The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called cesta-punta ("basket tip") in the Basque Country.
The sport is👄 played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, and in various Latin American countries.
Rules and customs [ edit ]Long xistera
The court👄 for jai alai consists of walls on the front, back and left, and the floor between them.
If the ball (called👄 a pelota in Spanish, pilota in Standard Basque) touches the floor outside these walls, it is considered out of bounds.
Similarly,👄 there is also a border on the lower 3 feet (0.
9 m) of the front wall that is also out👄 of bounds.
The ceiling on the court is usually very high, so the ball has a more predictable path.
The court is👄 divided by 14 parallel lines going horizontally across the court, with line 1 closest to the front wall and line👄 14 the back wall.
In doubles, each team consists of a frontcourt player and a backcourt player.
The game begins when the👄 frontcourt player of the first team serves the ball to the second team.
The winner of each point stays on the👄 court to meet the next team in rotation.
Losers go to the end of the line to await another turn on👄 the court.
The first team to score 7 points (or 9 in Superfecta games) wins.
The next highest scores are awarded "place"👄 (second) and "show" (third) positions, respectively.
Playoffs decide tied scores.
The most common American version of the game of jai alai game👄 is played in round robin format, usually between eight teams of two players each or eight single players, although in👄 rare instances the teams may consist of three players each or triples.
The first team to score 7 or 9 points👄 wins the game.
Two of the eight teams are in the court for each point.
The server on one team must bounce👄 the ball behind the serving line, then with the cesta "basket" hurl it towards the front wall so it strikes👄 the front wall first and if it is not caught by the other team before it bounces, must bounce between👄 lines 4 and 7 on the floor.
The ball is then in play.
The ball used in jai alai is hand crafted👄 and consists of wound virgin rubber strands tightly wound together and then wrapped in 2 layers of goat skin.
Once the👄 ball is in play, the other team must catch and return it before it bounces twice.
The process of catching and👄 throwing must be completed in one fluid motion with no "juggling" or "holding" of the ball.
The ball may be caught👄 either on the fly or after bouncing once on the floor but cannot bounce twice.
A team scores a point if👄 an opposing player:
fails to serve the ball directly to the front wall so that upon rebound it will bounce between👄 lines No.4 and 7.
If it does not, it is an under or over serve and the other team will receive👄 the point.
fails to catch the ball on the fly or after one bounce
holds or juggles the ball
hurls the ball out👄 of bounds
interferes with a player attempting to catch and hurl the ball.
These interference plays are called at the judges' discretion👄 and most times, the point is replayed.
The team scoring a point remains in the court and the opposing team rotates👄 off the court to the end of the list of opponents.
Points usually double after the first round of play, once👄 each team has played at least one point.
When a game is played with points doubling after the first round, this👄 is called "Spectacular Seven" or "Spectacular Nine" scoring If the games are played to nine points.
The players frequently attempt a👄 "chula" shot, where the ball is played off the front wall then reaches the bottom of the back wall by👄 the end of its arc.
The "chula" is when the ball rebounds low off the back wall with very little to👄 no bounce, almost rolling along the floor.
Since there is no wall on the right side, all jai alai players must👄 play right-handed (wear the cesta on their right hand), as the spin of a left-handed throw would give a tremendous👄 advantage to the left handed player due to the incredible amount of spin.
The Basque government promotes jai alai as "the👄 fastest sport in the world" because of the speed of the ball.
The sport once held the world record for ball👄 speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at 302 km/h (188 mph), performed by José Ramón👄 Areitio at the Newport, Rhode Island Jai Alai, until it was broken by Canadian 5-time long drive champion Jason Zuback👄 on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of 328 km/h (204 mph).[1]
The sport can be👄 dangerous, as the ball travels at high velocities.
It has led to injuries that caused players to retire and fatalities have👄 been recorded in some cases.
[2][3]Industry [ edit ]
Jai alai is a popular sport within the Latin American countries and the👄 Philippines from its Hispanic influence.
It was one of the two gambling sports from Europe, the other being horse racing, in👄 the semi-colonial Chinese cities of Shanghai and Tianjin, and was shut down after the communist victory there.
The jai alai arena👄 in Tianjin's former Italian Concession was then confiscated and turned into a recreation center for the city's working class.
The Philippines👄 [ edit ]
Jai alai was played in Manila at the Manila Jai Alai Building, one of the most significant Art👄 Deco buildings in Asia that was demolished in 2000 by the Manila city government.
[4] Earlier in 1986, jai alai was👄 banned nationwide because of problems with game fixing.
[4] However, jai alai returned to the country in March 2010.
In 2011, jai-alai👄 was briefly shut down in the province of Pangasinan when it was found to have links to illegal jueteng gambling,👄 but it was resumed after a court order.[5]
United States [ edit ]
Guernica Fronton, Basque Country, Spain
Miami Jai Alai fronton, built👄 in 1926 and known as "The Yankee Stadium of Jai Alai" [6]
In the United States, jai alai enjoyed some popularity👄 as a gambling alternative to horse racing, greyhound racing, and harness racing, and was particularly popular in Florida and Connecticut,👄 where the game was used as a basis for parimutuel betting.
Florida at one point had at least nine frontons throughout👄 the state: Miami Jai-Alai in Miami, Palm Beach Jai-Alai in West Palm Beach, Dania Jai-Alai in Dania Beach, Fort Pierce👄 Jai-Alai in Fort Pierce, Ocala Jai-Alai in Reddick, Orlando Jai-Alai in Casselberry, Jasper Jai-Alai in Hamilton, Tampa Jai-Alai in Tampa,👄 Daytona Jai-Alai at the Daytona Intl.
Speedway, and Big Bend Jai-Alai in Quincy.
Today, only one fronton remains open in the state.
It👄 is operated by Jai Alai World at the Magic City Casino northwest of downtown Miami.
The fronton offers two kinds of👄 games: the traditional parimutuel game, in which eight contestants compete for win, place and show finishes; and "battle court," in👄 which players participate in singles and doubles matches, akin to tennis, and accumulate points as in a dual meet.
Matches are👄 played with rubber balls and streamed online from the Jai Alai World website and on Local Now.
In 2022, BetRivers became👄 a sponsor and began taking wagers from users outside Florida.
Other Jai Alai World events include the U.S.
Jai Alai Championship and👄 World Super Court.
The first jai alai fronton in the United States was located in St.
Louis, Missouri, operating around the time👄 of the 1904 World's Fair.
The first fronton in Florida opened at the site of Hialeah Race Course near Miami in👄 1924.
The fronton was relocated to its present site in Miami near Miami International Airport.
The Miami Jai-Alai Fronton was the biggest👄 in the world with a record audience of 15,502 people on 27 December 1975.
and Dania Jai Alai which closed in👄 November 2021.
Seasonal facilities were located at Fort Pierce, Ocala and Hamilton.
The Tampa Jai Alai fronton opened in 1952 and operated👄 until 1998.
[7] Inactive jai alai permits were also located in Tampa, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, and Quincy.
One Florida fronton,👄 in Melbourne, was converted from jai alai to greyhound racing, although it later closed.
Professional Jai-Alai frontons no longer exist in👄 the northeastern and western United States, waning as other gambling options became available.
In Connecticut, frontons in Hartford and Milford permanently👄 closed, while the fronton in Bridgeport was converted to a greyhound race track, which too later closed.
In 2003, the fronton👄 at Newport Jai Alai in Newport, Rhode Island, was converted into Newport Grand, a slot machine and video lottery terminal👄 parlor, which closed permanently in August 2018.[8]
Jai alai enjoyed a brief and popular stint in Las Vegas with the opening👄 of a fronton at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino; however, by the early 1980s the fronton was losing money👄 and was closed by MGM Grand owner Kirk Kerkorian.
The MGM Grand in Reno also showcased jai alai for a very👄 short period (1978–1980).[9][10]
After the 1968 season, players returned home and threatened not to come back unless the owners improved their👄 work conditions.
The owners, however, offered the same terms and started hiring inexperienced players instead of the world-class stars.
The public did👄 not notice the change.
Later strikes were placated with salary rises.[citation needed]
In 1988–1991, the International Jai-Alai Players Association held the longest👄 strike in American professional sport.
The owners substituted with Americans raised locally, while the strikers picketed the courts for years.
The players,👄 90% of them Basque, felt insecure submitted to the will of their employers.
Spain was no longer a poor conservative country👄 and the new generation of players were influenced by leftist Basque nationalism.
The strike ended with an agreement.
Meanwhile, Native American casinos👄 and state lotteries had appeared as an alternative to jai-alai betting.[11]
In an effort to prevent the closure of frontons in👄 Florida, the Florida State Legislature passed HB 1059, a bill that changed the rules regarding the operation and wagering of👄 poker in a Pari-Mutuel facility such as a jai alai fronton and a greyhound and horseracing track.
The bill became law👄 on August 6, 2003.
In the mid-to-late 20th century, games could draw 5,000 spectators, a figure that fell to as few👄 as 50 by 2017.[11]
Amateur jai-alai [ edit ]
Although the sport has been in decline in America for several years, the👄 first public amateur jai alai facility was in Milford CT and owned by Charlie Hernandez.
Future frontons were built in the👄 United States, including one in 2008 in St.
Petersburg, Florida, with the assistance of the city of St.
Petersburg and private funding👄 from Jeff Conway (Laca).[citation needed]
In addition to the amateur court in St.
Petersburg, The American Jai-Alai Foundation offers lessons.
Its president, Victor👄 Valcarce, was a pelotari at Dania Jai-Alai (MAGO) and was considered the best "pelota de goma" (rubber ball) player in👄 the world.
Sponsored in North Miami Beach, Florida which was once owned by World Jai-Alai as a school that, in 1972,👄 produced the greatest American pelotari, Joey Cornblit.[12]
During the late 1960s, in addition to North Miami Amateur, at least one other👄 amateur court from International Amateur Jai-Alai in South Miami professional players emerged at World Jai-Alai, regarded as the first American👄 pelotari who turned pro in 1968 and enjoyed a lengthy career.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orbea's Jai-Alai in Hialeah👄 featured four indoor courts.
Two of the courts played with hard rubber balls ("pelota de goma") were shorter than a standard👄 court (75 and 90 feet (23 and 27 m), respectively) and used for training players and amateur leagues.
In addition, two👄 courts were played with the regulation pelota (hardball / "pelota dura"), one short in length (115 feet (35 m)) and👄 one regulation length (150 feet (46 m)).
Orbea's also sold equipment such as cestas and helmets.[citation needed]
Retired players visited and played👄 as well as highly skilled amateurs, pros from Miami Jai-Alai and various other professional frontons operating at the time.
The contributions👄 of the South Miami, North Miami, Orbea, and, later, the Milford amateur courts to what is generally considered to be👄 the golden age of the amateur jai-alai player and the sport in the United States are impressive.
In the late 1980s,👄 at least one other amateur court was constructed in Connecticut.[citation needed]
Dania Jai Alai has a "Hall of Fame" that documents👄 the best front and back court players.
[citation needed]See also [ edit ]
