Dania Jai-alai is getting set for its second annual tournament after coming back from its “grave”.
The action starts this Friday at 7pm and the tournament will last for 3 months vs. the two they had last season.
The young roster will be arriving on Wednesday and Thursday giving them just a day or two to practice on the court after settling into their new “homes” till the end of February.
The Pelota Press will be there coving the event Friday evening with a report and photos on Monday.
All the latest details on the season will be released on their YouTube channel featuring Dave Lamont and Benny Bueno Thursday evening at 6pm. Be sure to tune in to check out the latest news!
In case you missed it, Benny Bueno, head of Dania Jai-alai has released another YouTube video on what to look forward to at Dania, but this one has much more information. All but one of the 22 players in this season’s tournament were announced, with the last player awaiting confirmation he can leave from work and across the pond for a 3-month stay.
It looks like a very young roster again, even one at the age of 16 participating. Watch the video for complete details.
The season opens on a Friday night, December 1st, and we will be there covering the event. Hope to see many of you out there.
After 50 Years, Say Goodbye to “Orange Lake” Jai-alai and Poker
For 50 years, real jai-alai, poker and then the originators of the 2-man scam of fake jai-alai is coming to an end in Orange Lake, Florida. It was known as Ocala Jai-alai and now known as Ocala Gainesville Poker.
Yes, after 50 years, the building will likely become a real ghost town, leaving the cow pasturelands quieter than ever. The owners are packing up and moving from Orange Lake (located halfway between Ocala and Gainesville) to inside the city limits of Ocala itself.
The new location will be at 1781 SW 60th Ave in Ocala and will be known as Ocala Bets. It will feature 35 tables of Vegas Style card games and Texas Hold-em Poker. A restaurant and full bar is also under construction.
The last day of operation in Orange Park will be this Saturday, October 28th.
There is no date yet of when the new facility will be open. They are actively looking to train and hire poler dealers now, with training classes lasting six weeks.
This may be the last chance to see the old fronton, which was a favorite of many (including me) to watch and play at. It was 50 years ago when Marty Fleishman threw the first pelota off the wall as the building was under construction and without a roof at the time. The fronton always had a decent roster – Tampa’s roster would head north in the summer months to play there. About 15-20 years ago, the place was a hangout for the college kids from Gainesville to enjoy Wednesday night quarter beer night, often packing the place.
The Pelota Press was unable to attend the event, but here are several photos and snap shots of the scoresheets from this past weekends event up in Berlin, Connecticut. At least we were able to donate the jai-alai trophy figurines, which looked nice!
Photos and comments by Mr. and Mrs. Cachin 47.
Matt’s October Merry festival
A few times a year in the Great Northeast, Matt DiDomizio, the creator, and owner of Berlin Connecticut’s Only indoor Jai-alai Fronton. Holds an invitational weekend long Jai-alai Tournament. This past weekend October 13-15th 2023, had players from all over the country travel by car or plane to compete, in this Special event.
Players such as Kevin Smith, flew in, from as far away as Nevada, and my wife and I ( Cachin47 ) who live on the West Coast of Florida also made the trip.
Most of the Pelotari’s are fortunate enough to either live locally or within a respectable driving time. They are truly the Lucky ones. For they’re able to play on this Magical court as often as their bodies allow them to. Laugh hahaha
This past weekend Event, had roughly 20 players, which is a little less than what previous tournaments had. But it didn’t effect the competition level, or the camaraderie amongst all that came. See, these tournaments are more than just the competition, that takes place out on the court. It’s a gathering of people who have this one thing in common. The Love of Our Sport, Jai-alai. Some even say, ” It Runs Through Their Veins” !
The Event open on Friday night with the playing of the national anthem.
Everyone that was in attendance stop what they were doing, the men remove their hats, and put their right hand over their heart, some could be heard singing along. At the end everyone applauded.
Matt, gathered the players around, and made an announcement of how the nights scheduled would go. It was to be mostly made up of quinella style singles games. Singles is a tough way to start a Jai-alai performance. It’s one on one, and more court to cover, and in quinella style it’s hard to get a rhythm going, like one does in doubles Partido play. Nevertheless everyone was happy to be there. Adam, an Ex Connecticut pro player, unfortunately was injured, during warm-ups, when the ball struck him under the right eye. Sidelining him for the entire weekend. Reports indicate Adam received 6 stitches. We all wish him well.
The night finished with, I believe Kevin from Nevada having the most points in the few Singles games to receive one of the homemade trophies.
Saturday morning came early. I’m sure many of us were reaching for our bottle of ibuprofen or Aleve to start the long day ahead. Saturday’s schedule was the beginning of the traditional Partido matchups. We all thoroughly enjoy this style of playing much more. The day brought in such top players as Gino, Leo, Valente, Mickey Mo, Cachin, Jacque, Jesus, and Belota. With the returning Champions, Fred, DeCarlo, and of course Makina aka Ulysses. On a side note: I have to say getting play against Makina is an honor and a joy. He’s such a Great player and person.
In the opening games, on a personal note, I, Cachin47 played as a Delantero ( front courter) for a few of the matches. Which I enjoyed the different perspective.
The format had a change from the last event. Instead of straight up Partidos, there were 3 to 4 teams competing for total points, Instead of bracketing. The consensus amongst the players involved was this format would be better on this day.
As the competition heated up throughout the day, as you can see on the many Facebook videos, some of the same names and faces, moved ahead.
After the final game on Saturday, many of us enjoy the pizza, and other food and drink, that people brought in to share. Like I said, these are Magical Events, and bring out the Best in everyone who is involved.
The last day… Sunday Morning for us, my wife and I, started off with hot coffee from Dunkin’s again, and the drive over to Matt’s for the final day of the Tournament. Matt, paired me up with a very good front court player named Dino, Yes, just like Dean Martin’s nickname. We played together, in 3 different partido matches. One match was harder than the next. Going against players like Matt himself, Mickey Mo, Darren, Tony, Jacquc was both fun and challenging. For Dino, and I won all three matches , and what we’d call the under card. But the day still had more excitement to give with the Finals coming up. There would be four front Courters, Gorman, Valenti, Gino, and returning Champion Fred. The Backs were DeCarlo, Jesus, Belota, and The Champion Makina. Again instead of bracketing the play, the format was 4 games, changing partners each game. Totally points accrued Wins. Remember you can go to the Connecticut amateur Jai-alai Facebook page and watch all the action there. There was some Awesome points played by all. The ball was moving at a high velocity, the fans, and fellow players all were watching intensely. As the matches moved forward. In the end, it would be Freddy Winning the front court Championship and Makina taking the Backcourt Championship as expected. Congratulations to the both of them. They played hard and deserved it.
I’d like to say a Big Thank you, to all those who helped run this event. The score keepers, the announcers, Todd & Edward, Dave Gallo, and everyone else who was there. Just beginning there at this Special Event helped make it happen, Because, without all of you, and all of the players, the Sport will all share could be gone.
Special Thanks to Matt for fulfilling his dream and making ours come true.
Pitbull Joins World Jai-Alai League as Equity Owner
In case you haven’t already heard, Magic City Jai-alai has added another equity owner. But this one is well known. Famed rapper and Grammy Award-wining artist, Pitbull now has an equity ownership role in the World Jai-alai Leage. The Miami born legend has sold over 100 million records and will now have involvement in all aspects of the league and will be adding his creativity and entrepreneurial skills, according to the World Jai-alai League.
Other noted ambassadors and investors involved in Magic City include NBA star Udonis Haslem, NFL Hall of Fame’s Ray Lewis, retired UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Monica Puig and profession tennis player Eugene Bouchard.
Magic City Jai-alai now has 335,000 followers on TikTok and nearly 80,000 on Instagram. TikTok also has game days averaging over 100K unique views alone.
DraftKings and BetRivers currently offer betting odds on matches in 14 states, Ontario and Mexico in addition to parimutuel wagering.
Over the years, there has been talk about America’s first amateur jai-alai court, Orbea’s Amateur Fronton in Miami, Florida – which opened in the 1970s. It seems like nobody has any photos, videos or “mementos” of the place that was packed with four playing courts and lots of people smoking cigars having a good old time.
That is not the case anymore.
One of our amateur players at the St. Pete cancha, “Chip” Sutton, has changed that statement dramatically. The infamous “Chip”, brother of national champion “Ant” Anthony Sutton, has stumbled into a one-in-billion find.
He and his wife Angela had just bought a house in Tampa, just off Lois Avenue. The house had the single owner since it was built well over 60 years ago and was moving out. Out in the back yard was a large pool shed that was full of junk. Chips daughter was out there going through it all and came across some unique items. One was a 1999 Spring Training Program for the New York Yankees, who train in Tampa – just up the road from the house. Right under that was a thick 27-page booklet.
It was a copy of the original blueprint drawings of Orbea’s Amateur Fronton. Unbelievable. What are the odds of that? On top of it, that house is about 280 miles from where the court was built, too!
The rare find was on display for visitor’s last Saturday at the party honoring Chips brother and Rastock for their wins at Magic City, not far away from where the amateur court was located.
How many amateur courts have been built since then? Not many.
Two “regulars” from the Puryear Park Cancha were honored at an event held Saturday night at the JLaca Museum in Seminole Florida.
A lively crowd of about 35 greeted the national winners from the recent Magic City Tournament held in Miami. Several people made drives of up to 4 hours each way to attend the party and celebrate with the winners.
A replay of the Masters tournament was played on a large screen in a nearby room next to the museum, which also included live poker and blackjack action during much of the 6-hour event.
Anthony Sutton, for some reason now known as the “Ant”, won the Singles Tournament while veteran player Rastock took the doubles championship along with Conrado as his teammate. Their $1,000 huge checks were on display outside the museum entrance and will be placed in the museum when room is found.
Museum Damage
The museum suffered its first damage in its 9-year history. My wife was pointing at a couple of the bobbleheads (donated a long time ago by Dave Lemmon and Benny Bueno) that sit up above a custom-made opening over 6 feet high above the ground when she inadvertently knocked two of them over to the other side of the wall where they came crashing down. Two of the bobbleheads went flying off the narrow shelf. One of them, Daniel, suffered serious neck injuries, while Irastorza suffered unrepairable damage as he broke into multiple pieces. Rastock said he will donate a replacement for that bobblehead. The Daniel bobblehead hopefully can be repaired, but there are backups in the museum, just in case. The Pelota Press tried to reach out to the “real” Daniel that night but was unable to.
Next Event
The next event in the museum coming up will honor the great Elorri of Orlando Jai-alai for his long dedication to the sport.
Matt DiDomizio has scheduled a new Fall 2023 tournament, and everyone is welcome to sign up. The weather is usually gorgeous that time of year, and the foliage change at its peak.
Here are the details of the event:
Friday, October 13th – Spectacular “9” Citrus Style – Singles and Doubles Tournament
Saturday + Sunday October 14-15th – Quinella Style/ Mixed Doubles – “A” and “B” Groups – with the Finals on Sunday
Also on Sunday, possibly some Partido matches
Some strict rules will be enforced this time.
White Pants must be worn, or you will not play!
Fees—
Friday only $50 – includes jersey/ T shirt and Awards
Saturday/Sunday only $75 – includes jersey/T shirt and Awards
Friday/Saturday/Sunday $100 includes Jersey/T shirt and Awards
Must be signed up and paid by Friday October 6th.
The Pelota Press is donating several jai-alai player figurines for the tournament since the Seminole Florida jai-alai court was never built as the contractor (Mike Kelly of Point West Construction) kept all the money that was paid ($50,000) and didn’t do a thing after the 7-year battle to get a permit was approved by Pinellas County.
Contact Matt directly or you can reach out to me directly if interested in playing.
Usually, there is open play on Thursday afternoon/evening and Friday afternoon for the out of towners to practice on top of the regular tournament hours and is included in the fees.
This is the best amateur court in America and looking for a great turnout!
Magic City Jai-alai just completed its 4th Annual USNJAC Event this past weekend. Several amateurs, ex-pros and current pros all participated in the 3-day event in sunny, hot Miami Florida over a 3-day weekend festivities.
We have all the complete results and scores as compiled by Straymar of Say HiLi.com.
Puryear Parks star player Anthony Sutton, for some reason named the “Ant”, took home 1st Place in the Master’s Division, beating “Poppa” Douglas I, 7-2 on Sunday afternoon to take home the $1,000 prize.
In the Master Doubles division, the team of Rastock and Conrado beat DeCarlo and Lasa 7-5 to take home the $1,000 prize. Rastock is now a regular at the Puryear Park cancha, while DeCarlo and Lasa play a lot in Berlin Connecticut at Matt’s place.
This was the first time Connecticut amateur court owner Matt DiDomizio didn’t come home with a check from playing jai-alai, but he did come home with an extra $550 from winning at the slot machines, just feet away from the cancha.
The pro event on Saturday featured some great jai-alai action. The speed of that ball is hard to tell on TV vs being live, and I can tell you that ball was moving fast. Especially Goixerri, who beat Manu 9-7 in a thriller to collect first place money of $7,500 on Sunday afternoon. He also won the doubles championship with Aratz, for another cool $10,000! Not a bad day, to say the least.
We were also impressed with the play of “Alex” , DeCarlo, Tino, Joe P (Petco), and the man behind Jai-alai sports betting – Ari.
This year, players were allowed to practice for at least a two-hour session on Thursday. Players in the past had complained about the lack of practice time to get used to the court, which is quite different than any other. This practice session made a huge different in play the next day. A very large group from Matt’s Court in Connecticut made the long trip to play also.
Attendance was by far the biggest crowds the event has had. I liked the revised layout of the seating, and the chairs were comfortable. The only gripe we heard from players and spectators was the start times of the events, with 3 different times given out at the last moment for Saturdays start time. Nobody had an idea what time it started on Friday when arriving on Thursday. This information should be posted for everybody to know in advance. We also heard from several people that were confused as where to watch it at. Magic City’s website page on the event never changed at all and even included incorrect information on who won last years event. Information on where to watch it should be posted on the home page along with the hours. Otherwise, the overall event, broadcast like production and announcing should be commended.
Jai-alai will continue at the Magic City Casino at least thru 2025 and it appears there will be an event next year. Special kudos to Scott Savin for putting on the event again and all the hospitality.
The Pelota Press will be there the entire event. Action starts Friday morning and goes on all weekend. Details on results with photos coming next Monday. Fans are welcome to attend or watch live on the Ja-alai Channel!
2023 U.S. NATIONAL JAI-ALAI CHAMPIONSHIP
The U.S. National Jai-Alai Championship brings the focus of an international sport to the Magic City of Miami, Florida. U.S. bred athletes take the court to fight it out in an epic battle of skill, speed and athletic prowess to dominate The World’s Fastest Game – Jai-Alai.
August 11 – 13
· Friday 10am
· Saturday 12pm
· Sunday 1pm
Open to the public – Friends and Family are welcome to attend!
2022 WINNERS
Singles Champion JAIRO Jairo Baroja
Doubles Champions ARRIETA & GOITIA Inigo Gorostola & Inaki Goitiandia
RULES & REQUIREMENTS
All players must be United States citizens [Photocopy of Passport or Birth Certificate required with Entry Form].
Players must be at least 18 years old.
Players must sign a liability waiver and image release form.
Players must wear an approved helmet.
Video required with Entry Form if player is not known to the Selection Committee.
The Selection Committee has final determination of entrants should the Championship entries exceed the available playing slots.
Practice time will be available.
There will be a 1-minute warm-up before each match.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT & PRIZES
MASTERS DIVISION
August 11 & 13
Open to amateurs and former professionals who have not played professionally since January 1, 2019 and professionals who are age 50 or older
Amateurs Singles and Doubles Prize Money
1st Place: $1,000
2nd Place: $500
Limited to 32 Singles entries Limited to 14 Doubles teams All matches played to 6 points Finals played to 7 points There will be a Playback bracket in Doubles only
PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT
August 12 & 13
Open to current professional players and former professional players who have played professionally since January 1, 2019 and professionals who are under age 50
Professionals Singles Prize Money
1st Place: $7,500
2nd Place: $2,500
Professionals Doubles Prize Money
1st Place: $10,000
2nd Place: $5,000
Limited to 24 Singles entries Limited to 16 Doubles teams All matches played to 7 points Finals played to 9 points
