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Magic City Program Changes for Fall Pelota 2024

Magic City Program Changes for Fall Pelota 2024

By Straymar

First an important note is that both Jeden and Manu are not playing at the Friday 1:30-pm performance but are back for the Monday/Tuesday performances, so Ben is subbing for Jeden in games 1 & 2 along with Cabrera subbing for Manu in games 5 & 7.

There are (6) players added to the Pelota roster for fall 2024.  These players are #12 RonRon, #38 Urbieta, #46 Arta, #48 Cabrera, #59 Gallo and #66 Alex.  RonRon played previously at Magic City and is back for both Pelota and Battle Court.  He had an exceptional day at Battle Court last night and was named Player of the Day.

New to fall Pelota is the addition of two more doubles games.  Previous singles games 1 & 2 are now both early doubles games with the following teams:  Note:  I have no information at this time if there is any tournament prize money for the early doubles games.

  • Anderluck-Bradley
  • Bueno-Tennessee
  • Cool Fitness-Kubala
  • CRB-Gallo
  • Flores-RonRon
  • Ikeda-El Barba
  • Jeden-Cabrera
  • Juice-Arta

Games 5 & 7 are still doubles games and are the Championship Doubles Games.  Here are the teams for the Fall Pelota Championship Doubles Tournament:

  • Alex-Urbieta
  • Bueno-Nicolas
  • Douglas-Manny
  • Goixerri-Ben
  • Ikeda-Aratz
  • Inaki-Julen
  • Jairo-Benny
  • RonRon-Manu

I’ve assessed the singles games and here are a few noteworthy items:

  • Robin is not in any entries for the next three Pelota performances, so I’m assuming he’s currently sidelined with an injury.
  • Bueno is not competing in singles games, however, he plays in all four of the doubles games.  Arta is new to Pelota this fall, but it appears he is competing only in the early doubles games.
  • Game 3 & 4 singles are still, for the most part, a mid-level singles game.  Players CRB, Jeden and Tennessee are now regulars in those games and look for them to improve against tougher competition.  The following players who competed in spring Pelota games 1 & 2 are no longer slated for singles play, however they do play in both game 1 & 2 doubles:  Cool Fitness, El Barba, Flores and Juice.  New players to the game 3 & 4 singles games are Cabrera and Gallo.
  • Games 6 & 8 singles are still the top players at the Magic City Fronton, however, Alex has joined the mix and is listed as a sub for these games on Friday since Manu is out.  I don’t know if he will play any singles games on a regular basis or if the Championship Doubles Games 5 & 7 are his only planned Pelota appearances.

The Jai-ly popular Jai-5 is still listed in the program for game 3, however the Mighty Ocho, the Pick 8 wager, has been dropped from the wagering menu.

In conclusion, handicappers will need to sharpen their pencils with the new teams for four doubles games plus the addition of (6) new players to the Pelota roster.  Note that previously the plan was no changes to Fall Pelota other than Carballo’s retirement, however, there were some late changes made to the Pelota roster.  It’s been no secret that some of the Battle Court players have shown interest in competing at Pelota too and this new plan works out well for Battle Court with Pelota being considered a “warm-up” for Battle Court.

Takeout Rate Changes for MC Fall Pelota 2024 – some Good News!

Takeout Rate Changes for MC Fall Pelota 2024 – some Good News!

By Straymar

The takeout rate for trifectas has been 25% for both Magic City Fronton and Dania Beach Casino Fronton, however, starting tomorrow at the Fall opener at the Magic City Fronton the takeout rate on trifectas will be 3% lower, thus at a 22% rate. The reduced takeout rate means larger payoffs for trifectas which is great for the bettors!

There has been a small increase on takeout rate for the Jai-5 (the popular Pick 5 jackpot wager) and for the two Pick 3’s. Previously the takeout rate has been 20% on these wagers at Magic City (25% at Dania on Pick 3’s) and the rate on these is being upped by 2% to a 22% takeout rate effective at the Friday opener.

The Mighty Ocho Pick 8 has been dropped, but the Daily Double is still on the table for the early doubles games 1&2. The takeout rate for the Daily Double remains unchanged at 20%. Take advantage of this low takeout rate and good luck to all!

2024 Magic City Pelota Schedule Starts Sunday!

2024 Magic City Pelota Schedule Starts Sunday!

The action-packed Magic City Pelota games start up again on this coming Sunday, Feb 11, with the debut of Magic City’s 7th year, yes the 7th year!  Congratulations Magic City Fronton for keeping the Jai-Alive!  Magic City Fronton’s Pelota games schedule for early in 2024 is Sunday through Tuesday at 1:30-pm. 

The Battle Court sports-betting version of Jai-Alai is Monday & Tuesday (5-pm EST following the Pelota games) and Friday (7-pm EST, Live fan attendance, been huge crowds) with a 6th Battle Court team added for this Spring Meet called the Fireballs.  World-famous Lopez (#2 in the world) took to the Magic City Fronton court on Tue, Feb 6th, for his first competitive match there with the Cyclones and won his first doubles match after quickly adapting to the short-court!  Congrats Lopez and welcome to the Magic City Fronton!

Pelota games start at 1:30-pm EST on Sunday and Sundays are also the day when fans can attend these fast-paced short-court games at the Magic City Fronton inside the Magic City Casino near the Miami International Airport (former home of the Flagler greyhound track).

All of the same wagers are still available at Magic City, including the high-paying Jai-5, a $1.00 Pick 5 jackpot wager games 3-7 with a $2,000 min guarantee, AND the Mighty Ocho, a $1.00 Pick 8 jackpot wager games 1-8 with a $5,000 min guarantee.  The record Jai-5 jackpot currently stands at a massive $27,348 payoff!  Sounds like ultra-Lobsta-time, right Pauly!

This new meet also kicks off another Magic City Fronton Doubles Tournament with firm teams for the tourney duration.  Here are the new 12-teams (front court-back court):

Anderluck-Julen, Bueno-Robin, Cool Fitness-Aratz, CRB-Benny, Douglas-Kubala, El Barba-Manu, Goixerri-Flores, Inaki-Bradley, Ikeda-Ben, Jeden-Manny, Jairo-Tennessee, Juice-Nicolas

SayHiLi’s Steve predicts the top 5-teams to watch here (in alphabetical order) are Anderluck-Julen, Douglas-Kubala, Goixerri-Flores, Ikeda-Ben and Jairo-Tennessee.

You may have noticed Kubala and Inaki are back!  SayHiLi wishes them the best for 2024.  Kubala had been out for a lengthy period following an Achilles injury in 2023.  Kubala is playing in games 1 & 2 on opening week, so this should be an interesting test to see his level of recovery after the long layoff.

Special Sundays are for 3-continuous Sundays and start on Feb 18 and end on March 3 and they are indeed special.  There will be 3-Doubles Super Series games each of those Sundays, games 3-5, which will also be the $1.00 Pick 3 games for these days with the low Magic City Pick-X 20% takeout rate.  These special doubles games will feature the same teams for the series of all 9-games with all the traditional Magic City wagers these days (except the Mighty Ocho).  Players in the Doubles Super Series include the top Magic City Pelota talent and also the following Battle Court players:  Lopez, Olharan, Zulaika, Iturbide and Urbieta.  There is also another big addition to pelota game wagering on games 6-11 on the Special Sundays, making them “Super ++ Special” those days.  Wait a minute, games 6-11??, yes  I said games 6-11, what?? 11-games??…. stay tuned to SayHiLi for these forthcoming details!  You won’t want to miss this!

Hold on now, Lopez playing in Pelota games?  Yes, I said Lopez is playing in a total of 9-Pelota doubles games at Magic City Fronton on the Special Sundays!  You won’t want to miss this!  Keep checking back to SayHiLi.com next week for the (8) Doubles Teams for the Doubles Super Series on the Special Sundays starting February 18!  You seriously won’t want to miss this if you call yourself a fan of any version of Jai-Alai; the top professional Jai-Alai talent in the USA, and No. 2 in the World, all competing at Magic City Casino on the Magic City short-court!

Be sure to get ready for Sunday’s Pelota opener this week and fund your WatchandWager account to be ready for some real super-fast Jai-Alai with south Florida’s top pro talent at the Magic City Fronton!  If you don’t have an account with Watch and Wager, go to watchandwager.com to sign up.  If you aren’t sure about your state’s eligibility for allowing Jai-Alai wagers then contact W&W customer service at 1-888-204-9150 between the hours of noon to 8-pm EST.  Connecticut only allows Jai-Alai wagering through mywinners.com so you must use them for your ADW (advance deposit wagering) if you reside in Connecticut.  Now if you aren’t in a Jai-friendly state, be sure to partner up with a friend who resides in a Jai-friendly state so you can split wagers with them by them placing your joint wagers in their account from that Jai-friendly state.  Sounds like a plan, so get working on that plan to “Keep the Jai-Alive” if you’ve been making excuses for not being able to wager!  The Jai-friendly state list changes periodically so be sure to check with the ADW Jai-Alai providers (W&W and mywinners) for updates.

Don’t forget – this Sunday at 1:30-pm for the debut of Magic City Fronton’s 7th year AND The Super Bowl, both in the same day!  Wow, gonna be a great day of high-energy sports action!  I can’t wait!!!!!

Jai-Alai Players Own Their Statistics

Jai-Alai Players Own Their Statistics

Posted on  by Steve

Earlier in the current Dania meet a Chalk Talk poster (alq) brought up that payoffs were higher this meet than seen in the past and that poster was asking for supporting evidence.  I took a look at the data and yes, they were at the time, and that led me to take a deeper dive into the statistics in general.

First, let me say, I am only the presenter of statistics.  A Jai-Alai player owns their statistics.  I don’t own them nor do I create them.  Statistics are statistics, however they are facts.  I can’t and won’t make assumptions as to why they are what they are, who the heck knows, perhaps only God and/or that Jai-Alai player knows.  I can only present the factual statistics and they are what they are.  However, in my deep dive of statistics I have looked at them in a way I haven’t before and often with some very simplistic approaches.  Decide for yourself how to use them if you do at all, but I’m not a “bad guy” here and don’t make me out to be one.  I’m only presenting the factual stats, and in a way you have never seen before I’m sure as you won’t find this stuff in any Jai-Alai program.

The first info I’m going to present here is doubles player ITM records by day of the week for doubles games only, hmm, that could be interesting, particularly if you find yourself betting and losing certain days of the week.  Perhaps you will find your reason why here, or maybe not, but if so, you might consider an adjustment to your bet structure for certain days?  This is not a team assessment for doubles, but an assessment of individual  doubles player stats only.  This analysis should certainly show which players are most consistent one would think.  Be cognizant of the fact that Wednesdays and Saturdays include both the matinee and evening sessions, so those days represent a higher percentage of the doubles games played.

Here are a few interesting things to note from the above Day of Week ITM Chart for Doubles:

Urrutia, one of the strongest players on the roster and heavily bet,  starts out the week slow with much lower than his average performance on Wed & Thurs – are you getting beat up badly on those days betting on him?  I wouldn’t be surprised, the stats don’t lie.

Atain has an incredible 0.704 Doubles ITM on Thursdays and a very respectable 0.600 on Friday nights, however, he has a major dropoff for Saturday, interesting stuff.

Toucoullet has a very low 0.188 ITM on Friday nights, he’s already one who is probably on your radar with low performance, but Friday’s are the lowest.

Consistency (in alphabetical order), these 7-doubles players are most consistent throughout the week:  Bixente, Cabanillas, Jagoba, Laborde, Oyhenard, Txanika, Zugaitz

These are just a few things that I noticed from scanning the Day of Week Chart, I’m sure you can find more.

When I had done my deep dive into the Dania Jai-Alai doubles game data, I was thinking about how players benefit from the low posts, pp 123, whereas the hardest posts to win from are pp 567. Then a light bulb went off, I have the data, look at the data! Certainly players perform better from posts 123 than 567 and the data will support that, even from looking at the Dania players from 2018 thru 2021. These days with random post draw, in effect since the late 80’s strike ended, all players get to play in all post positions. Now in the “olden days” as many of you probably remember post-strike, the best players were almost always found in the 567 posts.

I performed the low post-hard post analysis and the data was as expected, except for one outlier from the current meet.  I even went as far to look at data from the previous Dania meets from 2018 forward for comparison.  So in the next charts you will see everything doubles summarized by player, with ITM’s from pp 123 versus ITM’s from pp 567 and a ratio of the ITM 567 / ITM 123, which in all cases was well below 1.00 and I mean well below 1.00 (average is 0.60), except in one case.  Again, I don’t own the stats, the Jai-Alai players own their stats, I am simply the presenter.  Don’t shoot the messenger!

I could have looked at singles records, but that data is more straight-forward and those games are much easier to handicap, so I took on the tough assignment, doubles games.  Hopefully this will help you with your Dania handicapping!  Good Luck!!

Dania meet concludes on Sunday, February 25th.

Magic City Pelota meet starts on Sunday, February 11th.

Magic City Battle Court matches start on Friday, February 2nd. The amazing Lopez plays BC now!

Be sure to support all versions of Jai-Alai in the USA!

1/26/2024

Magic City Battle Court Roster Growing for 2024 – WOW Lopez & Olharan Plus More!

Magic City Battle Court Roster Growing for 2024 – WOW Lopez & Olharan Plus More!

Some really big names are joining the Magic City Battle Court Jai-Alai roster for February 2024 including top world-renowned talents Lopez and Olharan.  The other four new players are Duke-Hernandez, Chris Cabrera, Amigorena and Foronda.

The world-renowned Lopez last played in the US at the Miami Jai-Alai fronton during the 2020-21 meet competing against the likes of Goiko, Aritz and Erik.  Olharan played at Ft. Pierce during 2013-14.  Both Lopez and Olharan have extensive international circuit experience.  Duke-Hernandez has played at the Dania, Miami and Ft. Pierce frontons as well as the international circuit.  Chris Cabrera played at Calder Jai-Alai from 2019-2021 under the player name of El Nino while Amigorena and Foronda were very popular regulars at Dania Jai-Alai for a number of years, both departing in 2021.

Iriondo is the only current player not playing at Magic City next year as he is returning to Spain to finish studies for his engineering degree.  Iriondo is a fan favorite and will be sorely missed!  We wish him the best with his engineering studies and career.

Magic City Fronton will be officially announcing this information today, Dec. 4, during their Pelota Game broadcast with game 1 starting at 1:30-pm EST.  Stu Neiman and Andrew Blechman will be discussing this info on The Jai-Alai Network on YouTube so don’t miss out be sure to have your questions ready for the chat where they interact with the fans!  Coverage of today’s games starts at 1:20-pm EST.  Here is the YouTube link:  https://www.youtube.com/c/jaialainetwork

The six new players are joining the Magic City roster for the expansion of Battle Court Jai-Alai which will grow to 6-teams from the current 5-team World Jai-Alai League (WJAL).  This expansion of an additional Battle Court team will likely require additional match day(s) with exact details TBD.  The next Battle Court draft is scheduled for January 9 so players and teams can prep for the next Battle Court season which starts in early February.   These new players will make the fast-paced  short-court Jai-Alai Battle Court matches even more competitive at the Magic City Fronton.

Battle Court sports betting match wagers are currently done through DraftKings or BetRivers online sportsbooks.  DraftKings is currently available for Jai-Alai Battle Court sports wagers in AZ, IA, IL, KS, NH, MA, NJ, OR, PA, TN, WA, WY, WV plus Ontario, Canada.  BetRivers is currently available in AZ, CO, IA, IL, NJ, PA, VA, WV plus Ontario, Canada for Battle Court sports wagers.  Expansion efforts for Battle Court sports wagers are ongoing so stay tuned for more states to follow.

Magic City will also be announcing an additional treat for Jai-Alai fans; (3) Sundays of Pelota Games (aka pari-mutuel Jai-Alai games) in February 2024 where there will be (3) feature Championship Doubles Pelota Games each Sunday where the best players will compete, including the new Battle Court players.  These games will have the standard 8-teams and be played under the traditional Spec-7 format where points double after the first round and the first team to 7-points or more wins the game.  Some details are still being finalized; however there will be more games than the Magic City traditional 8-games on these special Sundays.  These special Sundays will be LIVE events where fans are invited to attend the Magic City Fronton at the Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida!

Note:  The current Fall 2023 Battle Court season has two key events coming very soon; the Playoff Dec. 11 at 5-pm EST and the Championship Final on Dec. 15 at 7-pm EST.  The Dec. 11 Playoff is between the 2nd and 3rd place teams to decide who faces off against the 1st place team in the finals on Friday night, Dec. 15.  Fridays are always LIVE events where fans can enjoy the exciting Battle Court Jai-Alai action for FREE at the Magic City Fronton!

Ways to watch Battle Court:  https://jaialaiworld.com/battlecourt#WaysToWatch

Author:  Steve M. from SayHiLi.com

Magic City Season Resumes Tuesday September 5th

Magic City Season Resumes Tuesday September 5th

By Straymar

The pari-mutuel program for the highly popular Magic City Fronton Pelota games is now available and can be found on the Magic City Casino website under “Jai-Alai.” Fall opening day is the day after Labor Day on Tuesday, September 5th with a 1:30-pm EST start time.

Robin is back and playing in singles games 3 & 4 along with appearances in the first Fall Doubles Tournament games 5 & 7. SayHiLi wishes him the best in this Fall opening week debut after his long recovery. Bueno is back in action too for Pelota games; he did play in the USNJAC tourney in August and was playing well. Cool Fitness is not in the program for opening week and we hear he is still recovering from his wrist injury but is cleared to practice. Kubala has a long road to recovery with the torn ACL and is not expected to return this year. SayHiLi wishes all of the sidelined Magic City Fronton professionals the best in their road to recovery from their injuries. Spinner had decided to discontinue with the Pelota games last fall and focus on Battle Court after he found a lucrative job offer.

Check out the program for all of the new teams for the first Fall Doubles Tournament. Juice is paired with Goixerri and Tennessee is paired with Douglas. A few other teams are El Barba-Manu, Jairo-Bradley and Bueno-Nicolas. Aratz, who is not showing up in the doubles entries, will be partnered with Cool Fitness when he returns to action.

The “Jai-ly” popular Jai-5 wager is back with the $2,000 guarantee to a single winning ticket holder for the Pick 5 sequence from games 3-7 along with the Mighty Ocho which has a $5,000 guarantee to a single winning ticket holder of this Pick 8 wager for games 1-8. These are both structured after the popular horse racing Pick 6 Jackpot wagers where there can be ONLY one winning ticket for the entire jackpot to be paid out. The record Jai-5 payout at Magic City is a whopping $27,348! The Magic City Fronton Jai-5 and Mighty Ocho wagers are both $1 minimum wagers.

The Fall Pelota schedule is Monday thru Wednesday at 1:30-pm EST. The Live Jai-Alai day is currently scheduled for Mondays, and this is subject to change. Doors open at 1-pm for the Live Monday performances.

Be sure to sign-up for watchandwager.com for on-line wagering capability if you haven’t already to take advantage of the attractive sign-up bonus and cash incentives.

Details for the MC 2023 World Super Court Tournament Aug. 26-27

Details for the MC 2023 World Super Court Tournament Aug. 26-27

Here are the details for the upcoming 2023 2nd Annual World Super Court at Magic City Fronton in Miami, Florida on Saturday and Sunday, August 26-27.

The 2023 WSC is a 2-day Invitational Tournament this year. The following is information received from Andrew Blechman of Magic City Fronton.

Instead of a bracket there will be a group of play round similar to the World Cup in soccer. There will be two groups (A and B), each with 5-teams. Each team will play (4) qualifying matches against each of the other teams in their group on Saturday, August 26th, the first day of the WSC. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals on Sunday. The first-place team in group A will play the second-place team in Group B, and vice versa. The winners will play each other for the finals for the 1st and 2nd place prize money.

Saturday features (20) total matches to 8-points each, with 10-matches for each of group A and B. Sunday’s final matches will be like the Battle Court matches with 3-sets to 6-points each, with the first team to win 2-sets advancing in the tourney.

Saturday matches start at 11-am EST

Sunday finale matches start at 1-pm EST

Additional info added 8/22 am:

Here are the 10–teams for this invitational tourney. Last year’s first and second place finishers Goixerri-Aratz and Inaki-Julen. Plus, these 8-additional teams: Alex-Douglas, Bixente-Tambour, Carballo-Ubilla, Hormaetxea-Urbieta, Iturbide-Nicolas, Patxi-Manu, Urriesti-Manci and Zulaika-Benny.

Magic City Jai-alai Complete Statistics for Betting – as Prepared by Mo Crank of Say Hi Li

This session of the Magic City season was recently completed as the Say HiLi site has some great stats sheets on the complete season.

Fourteen (14) pages of everything a better would want to know who is doing what that the regular season program can’t do.

This was prepared by Mo Crank of the Say Hi Li website, which specializes on Jai alai betting information, free of charge. 

A lot of work goes into preparing this information and we really thank the guys over there for preparing this information!    

Chargers Stun Warriors at Battle Court Spring Finals!

The Lifestyle Miami Chargers stunned the Wall Warriors last Friday night at the Magic City Fronton Battle Court Spring Championship in Miami, Florida before a packed house.  There were (5) doubles matches slated for the finals and the first team to win 3-matches would be named the Championship Winner Spring 2023.  Should a team secure the Championship victory before the 5th match, the remaining matches would be cancelled.

The first doubles match featured the level-1 teams of Zulaika-Benny for the Chargers versus Inaki-Nicolas of the Warriors.  BetRivers had Inaki-Nicolas favored to win the match.  Zulaika-Benny appeared well on their way to victory in set three with a 5-2 lead, needing only one more point to secure the first match win for the Chargers.  Four straight errors by Zulaika allowed Inaki-Nicolas to steal the 3rd set win and the first match of the Championship Final (Match 1 set scores, Warriors:  6-3, 3-6, 6-5).

Match 2 was a level 2 doubles match featuring Iturbide-Spinner for the Chargers versus Ikeda-Julen of the Warriors.  BetRivers had Iturbide-Spinner favored to win.  After a nail-biting first set win of 6-5 by the Chargers, they rattled the Warriors with a 6-0 shutout in set two, clinching the match for the Charger’s Iturbide-Spinner, thus offsetting the Charger’s match-1 loss (Match 2 set scores, Chargers:  6-5, 6-0).

Match 3 was a level 3 doubles match featuring Zulaika-Iriondo for the Chargers versus Bueno-Nicolas of the Warriors.  BetRivers had this match as a toss-up (-117 for both teams).  As expected, this was a close match, but was won by Zulaika-Iriondo in two-sets by scores of 6-4 and 6-5.

Leading 2-1, the Chargers needed only one more match win to take home the trophy, 1st place prize money and the bragging rights.  The Chargers did not disappoint their fans and secured the victory in 2-sets 6-4 and 6-1 in the 4th match with the Charger’s Iturbide-Iriondo picking off Inaki-Roque of the Warriors.  BetRivers had the Warriors favored to win this match (Warriors -200 and Chargers +145).  Had the Warriors won the 4th match, the 5th match would have been played with the Charger’s Williams-Benny duo versus the Warrior’s Bueno-Julen.

SayHiLi congratulates the winning Lifestyle Miami Charger team owners and the team members Zulaika, Iturbide, Benny, Spinner, Iriondo and Williams.  Three of the Charger’s team members are new to the Magic City Fronton Battle Court roster for 2023; Zulaika, Iturbide and Iriondo.  Also, compliments are in order for the Magic City Fronton owners, management and support team for all their hard work in promoting the game of Jai-Alai.  Also, recently another sports betting partner, DraftKings, has started taking wagers on Battle Court matches too, so this expansion is exciting news for the Magic City Fronton short-court Jai-Alai program!

The Battle Court Fall Season 2023 kicks off on Friday, September 8th and runs through Friday, December 15th.  There will be a Fall Battle Court draft in late August.  Be sure to support the Magic City Fronton Pelota games (pari-mutuel games) which are played on Sunday through Tuesday at 1:30-pm now through June 27th.  Fans can attend the live games on Sundays.  The USNJAC and WSC (World Super Court) tournaments are played in August this year so don’t miss out on these great events too!  Pelota games also return in September and run into early December this year with a Monday thru Wednesday schedule.

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