Ikeda-Bradley – Winners of 1st Doubles Championship for 2022 at Magic City Jai-Alai in Miami on 4/17/2022
Story by Jabracadabra/Straymar
What a match-up it was Sunday with the Warriors and Cyclones putting it all on the line in the inaugural season of the Battle Court H2H “Battle Royale” Championship. The Championship was a best of 5, winner take all (each match worth 1 point).
Ikeda & Manny of the Cyclones started off with a straight set victory (6-4, 6-4) over the Warriors Inaki & Julen. This match was back and forth with only one 3-point separation by Inaki & Julen in the second set.
The second doubles match went 3-sets with Joseph & Manu of the Cyclones beating Diaz & Bradley (6-1, 5-6, 6-2) with some outstanding play. Joseph & Manu had a 5-point run in the first set, then another 5-point run in the third set to seal the win.
With a 2-0 Cyclones lead in “Battle Royale,” the Warriors were on the brink of defeat with Bueno & Nicolas taking on Jeden & Manny. Bueno & Nicolas took a straight set victory (6-3, 6-3) over Jeden & Manny to keep the Warrior’s hopes alive. Manny exhibited some amazing catches in the match.
The Championship’s only scheduled singles match featured Julen of the Warriors and Carballo of the Cyclones. This singles match-up with the 6-0 singles leader, Carballo; winning in 3-sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-1) to clinch the “Battle Royale” Championship for the Cyclones.
What a day it was with each member of the Cyclones taking home $4,000 and each member of the Warriors taking home $1,000. Joseph even treated the crowd to one of his famous backflips after the victory. This was an amazing season! A new group of matches called Jai-Alai H2H Championship Series with 6-singles games each day will be featured tomorrow and Tuesday, then a short break and the Jai-Alai H2H Championship Series will continue on May 1. Also, Battle Court II is coming this fall! Be sure to check out SayHiLi.com for continuous Magic City updates and more details.
The table below shows the “Battle Royale” Championship point summary by set and match.
Despite not having played competitively on US soil since Dania closed in November last year, the team of Erik-Manu had a strong showing at Magic City in the 2nd World Super Court qualifying event at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai in Miami today. The team of Erik-Manu (also known as the top doubles team of Erik-Ladutxe from Dania) won all 3-matches in straight-set victories over their opponents to capture the top 2nd qualifier prize of $2,000 along with one of the 8-spots in the $50k World Super Court finals at Magic City on October 13th where the first place team wins $25,000 and second pays $12,000!
Erik-Manu handily outscored the Filipino team of Robin-RonRon 6-0, 6-0 in the first round match and won 6-5, 6-2 against Jairo-Nicolas in the second round. The first set against Jairo-Nicolas was won by Erik-Ladutxe after Jairo lost his footing when they were tied at 5-5. That first set was a 21-minute set which is one of the longest sets in H2H style Jai-Alai matches where there’s 3-sets to a match, with sets to 6-points (first team to 6-points wins the set), and the first team to win 2-sets wins the match.
The Magic City Jai-Alai brother’s team of Inaki-Julen (also known as Goitia-Julen, Goitia the name Inaki played under at Dania) faced off against Erik-Manu in the final match of the 2nd WSC Qualifier after they had beaten Bueno-Nicolas and Carballo-Arta. This was another great match for viewers and did not come easy for Erik-Manu who won the first two sets 6-3 and 6-5, almost going to a 3rd set. Inaki-Julen also advance to the WSC Finals at Magic City on October 13th and won the 2nd place prize of $1,000 for their incredible effort today.
The 3rd match in today’s first round was an outstanding match of abilities between Dania’s Zulaika-Arrieta and Magic City player Carballo paired with Arta and is a must see match for fans around the world of all types of Jai-Alai. The Magic City team of Carballo-Anderluck was initially slated to play, but was changed early in the week to Carballo-Arta when Anderluck scratched for the 2nd WSC event. The 6’3” Arta had played at Dania in both front court and back court positions in early games and in the last month has done judging for Magic City Jai-Alai. The Carballo-Arta team had little practice together and lost a hotly contest first set 6-5 against Zuliaka-Arrieta, both late game Dania players, however, Carballo-Arta won the next two sets 6-3, 6-5, winning the match to proceed further in today’s qualifier. They lost their next match in 2-sets, 4-6 and 1-6, to the Magic City brother’s team of Inaki-Julen. Teams that won their first round sets today are eligible to compete again in future qualifiers if there are open spots.
The Erik-Manu team has vast experience playing together and is considered one of the best, if not the best, Jai-Alai doubles teams in the world. Their late game doubles team record playing in pari-mutuel games at Dania from September of 2018 through November of 2021 is impressive when one considers there are 8-teams in each pari-mutuel game played. The late game team record is 151-53-29-20 for an incredible 35.1% wins while an average team would have 12.5% wins, thus Erik-Manu were 2.8-times better than the average late-game team at Dania.
Today’s two qualifying teams will join the two brother’s teams of Goixerri-Aratz and Douglas-Benny who qualified at the 1st WSC Qualifier event at Magic City on February 16th. The 3rd Qualifier is at Magic City on June 8th at 3-pm EST and the 4th Qualifier is expected to be at a location in Spain in September, exact date/time TBD, at a court similar in size to the Magic City fronton short-court (120’ long x 40’ wide).
Here is a detailed scoring of all the matches for this 2nd WSC Qualifier event, compliments of SayHiLi.com’s Battle Court / H2H Jai-Alai Sports Writer Jabracadabra (aka Joel A.):
World Super Court 2nd Qualifier is April 13th: Here’s the Matches!
The $50K World Super Court 2nd qualifying event will be held at the Magic City Casino Jai-Alai fronton on Wednesday, April 13th at 3-pm. Here are the teams for the first 4-matches which were drawn today for the first round of the qualifier event on Wednesday:
Erik-Manu vs Robin-RonRon
Jairo-Nicolas vs Jeden-Ben
Zulaika-Arrieta vs Anderluck-Carballo
Inaki-Julen vs Bueno-Kubala
These matches will be played using the H2H format and can be seen on watchjaialai.com. There will be a total of 7-matches on Wednesday. The top two teams will advance to the WSC Finals where they will join the teams of Goixerri-Aratz and Douglas-Benny who qualified at the 1st WSC Qualifier. The 3rd Qualifier is on June 8th at Magic City and the 4th Qualifier is slated for a date TBD in September overseas. The World Super Court Finals featuring the top 8-teams is October 13th at Magic City. The World Super Court Finals first place team wins $25,000 while the 2nd place team wins $12,500. World Super Court can be viewed on all platforms except YouTube’s The Jai-Alai Channel which is reserved for Magic City Pelota (pari-mutuel games).
Another incredible week of Magic City pelota games concluded on Tuesday, April 5th at Magic City Jai-Alai at the Magic City Casino in the Magical City of Miami, Florida. The exciting Jai-Alai action keeps getting better and better!
Carballo won the Golden Cesta Award for week 8 for the most singles wins for the week, scoring wins in 3 of his 8-singles games. This is his 7th GCA in his Magic City Jai-Alai career and that secures him the spot of 3rd most GCA’s right behind Douglas with 34 and RonRon with 16. Click Here to view the Golden Cesta Award history for Magic City Jai-Alai.
The team of Carballo-Kubala also scored victories in 3 of their 4-doubles games for week 8 in the first doubles tournament of 2022. This is significant as they now have 6-team wins in this big money tournament and are only 1-win behind the teams of Ikeda-Bradley and Juice-Manu which have 7-wins each. Since this tourney ends on Sunday, April 17th there are only 4-days left in the tourney which means each of the 12-tourney teams has only 5 or 6 chances left to win a doubles victory. The first place team wins $10,000 while the second place team splits $5,000. Click Here to view the complete doubles team chart for the first tourney for 2022.
Carballo leads the 2022 singles championship for the player with the most singles wins for the year. He currently has 15-singles wins and Bueno is on his tail with 14-wins. Third place with 11 wins is Goixerri. Click Here to view the complete singles wins chart for 2022.
The combined singles and doubles records is shown below for those fans who like to mix the talents of the Magic City roster. This chart also shows Carballo, Carballo and Carballo for most wins, top % Wins and top % ITM, plus an amazing 48.2% in-the-quiniela!
All Games 2022 thru 04-05-2022 at Magic City Jai-Alai
What another exciting week of Battle Court H2H action at Magic City with the Cyclones clinching first place and the Warriors going 7-3 (earning 8.5 points) to clinch second place. The Championship match will take place on Sunday, April 17 at the Magic City Fronton. The Cyclones play the Renegades on Sunday, April 10 to finish the season with another 6 points up for grabs, but the standings are “locked” as the Renegades with 31 points cannot catch the second place Warriors with 37.5 points.
Standings Through Week 8 (1 match remaining: Cyclones vs. Renegades)
Team
Points
W-L
Pct
Cyclones
42.0
34-20
0.630
Warriors
37.5
32-27
0.542
Renegades
31.0
25-29
0.463
Chargers
27.5
22-37
0.373
Note: W-L does not include forfeitures in weeks 3 and 7, but are included in the points totals.
The Cyclones went 4-1, earning 4.5 points with singles wins from Carballo, Manny and Manu. Carballo went undefeated with a 6-0 record. Carballo was on fire in the Pelota matches and it continued with a straight set (6-3, 6-1) win over Benny (Chargers) on Sunday. Jeden & Manny earned a 6-1, 6-2 straight set doubles win over Correa & Roque (Chargers).
The Warriors went 7-3 to earn 8.5 points with singles wins from Bueno, Diaz and Nicolas. Diaz bet Vuelo (Renegades) in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to finish with a 5-1 singles record. Inaki & Julen picked up their first doubles win in 3 sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-5) against Douglas & Benny (Chargers). Inaki teamed with Nicolas to take a 3 set win (5-6, 6-2, 6-5), handing the 5-0 Goixerri & Aratz (Renegades) their first loss of the season. Bueno & Nicolas finished doubles with a 5-1 record with a 2 set win (6-3, 6-3) over Robin & Ben (Renegades).
The Renegades went 1-4 earning 1 point with a singles win from Ben over Bradley (Warriors) in 2 sets (6-4, 6-5).
The Chargers went 3-7 earning 4 points with Benny going 1-1 with a straight set win (6-1, 6-3) over Julen (Warriors). CRB & Douglas beat Diaz & Bradley (Warriors) in 3 sets (6-1, 3-6, 6-1). Jairo & Benny took a 3 set win (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) over Carballo & Manu (Cyclones).
You can watch the final Battle Court session at 5pm on Sunday at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sunday to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.
And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H match at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners.
Be sure to watch “The King of Twitch” (aka El Barba) and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure.
Be sure to tune in for the “Battle Royale” Championship Finals between the Cyclones and Warriors on Sunday, April 17th at 5:00 pm EST to find out which squad will win the top prize of $4,000 per team member! The 2nd place squad wins $1,000 per team member.
The Cyclones moved into first place after going 9-1 in week 6 which included a sweep over the Warriors on Sunday. The sweep was their second in as many weeks. The “Cones” hammered out a 14 game winning streak and have gone 21-4 (0.840) since being in last place in week 3. To add to the excitement, the Cyclones team owner Chris Cote was in attendance to motivate and cheer on his team.
Carballo (4-0), Manny (3-1) and Manu (2-2) of the Cyclones each earned 2 singles wins in the week. Carballo and Diaz (Warriors) are each 4-0 while Kubala (Renegades) improved to 3-0 in singles play. Joseph & Manu (5-1) picked up 2 doubles wins, and Ikeda & Manny (3-3) went 1-1.
In addition to Kubala’s win, the Renegades picked up a singles win by Ben (1-2) and a doubles win by Goixerri & Aratz. Goixerri & Aratz improved to 5-0 while Bueno & Nicolas (Warriors) remain at 4-0.
The Chargers got wins from Roque (2-2) and CRB & Douglas (1-2).
Standings Through Week 6 (3 Weeks Remaining)
Team
Points
W-L
Pct
Cyclones
33.5
28-17
0.622
Renegades
26.0
21-23
0.477
Warriors
25.0
21-19
0.525
Chargers
17.5
14-25
0.359
You can watch the action at 5pm on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at watchjaialai.com, laligasportstv.com, FTF Sports Network or download the free Jai Alai Channel app. You can also visit the fronton on Sundays to see the great action in person. Be sure to catch the post-game show with Stu and Andrew for the recap of the action.
And remember, those fans in attendance at Sunday’s Battle Court H2H matches at 5pm will have the opportunity to WIN $1,000. It’s FREE to play and if you select the winners of the three singles matches and both doubles matches, you could WIN $1,000. If there are multiple winners, the prize money will be split among the winners. If there are no winners, the $1,000 will roll over to the following Sunday’s prize purse and $2,000 will be up for grabs.
Be sure to watch pelota game player El Barba and Paulie at https://www.twitch.tv/watchjaialai for interactive livestreaming during the H2H sports betting games at Magic City. Tune in to hear the entertainment as El Barba gives “Barba Bursts” for great plays and has some newly added sound bites. El Barba and Paulie also answer questions in the chat. It is entertaining for sure. With Chris Cote’s ownership of the “Cones”, the interactive chat has picked up and it is great seeing new Jai Alai fans learn about the game.
Week 6 Review
Another great week of exciting Magic City Jai-Alai concluded Tuesday, March 22nd with CRB capturing the Golden Cesta Award for the most singles wins for the week. His two wins in his six singles games along with a 66.7% ITM was enough to edge-out the victory against Carballo who also had 2-wins and tied with highest win percentage but fell short on the ITM tie-breaker with 50%. Congratulations to CRB for his solid play which paid-off in week 6!
Here are the singles stats for 2022 through March 22nd for all players. The %ITQ stat (in the Quiniela) has been added to the far right column to assess top two finishes for the players. Three players are tied with 10-wins in the 2022 Singles Championship which is won by the player with the most wins for the year; Bueno, Carballo and Goixerri. Carballo has an incredible 58.3% for top two finishes while Goixerri is 2nd with a respectable 47.1%
The action-packed doubles games (games 5 & 7) also referred to as “Dodging Death” at Magic City Jai-Alai continue to be led by Ikeda-Bradley with (6) team wins while Juice-Manu have closed-in with (5) team victories through Tuesday. Jeden-Goixerri are third with (4) wins and three other teams have (3) wins each. Here is a snapshot comparing all 12-teams in this first 2022 Doubles Tournament.
This next data snapshot combines singles and doubles games for all players and currently two players are leading with 14-wins; Carballo and Goixerri.
The Jai-5 Jackpot wager was not won during Week 6 and has $8,269.60 in the jackpot carryover for Sunday’s March 27th performance when exciting Pelota Games with pari-mutuel wagering returns for Week 7 at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai in Miami. The largest Jai-5 in Magic City history was won by one lucky bettor for a whopping $27,348 last year! You must be the ONLY winner to score the entire jackpot on this popular wager.
Douglas won his 34th Golden Cesta Award of his career by winning the most singles games for the first 5-performances at Magic City Jai-Alai in 2022. Those wins came in the pelota games, formerly referred to as the pari-mutuel wagering games. Douglas had won this award the final week of 2021 action by winning 50% of his singles games then and picked up where he left off by winning 50% of his ten singles games to start the 2022 meet, and this feat was accomplished against even tougher competition from some Dania players that joined the Magic City roster. Douglas has more than double the amount of Golden Cesta Awards than any other player. RonRon has second most awards with 16.
Ikeda got off to a great start by winning four of his 10-singles pelota games for 40% wins and an amazing 80% ITM (in the money). Three other players were tied with 3-wins each; Carballo, Goixerri and Tennessee. The best ITM for the week was Ikeda with 80% while Douglas and Goixerri were tied for second best ITM with 70% each. Nine players of the 23-players starting the meet have yet to score their first win.
The first doubles tourney for 2022 has been dominated by the Ikeda-Bradley team who have surged to a huge early lead by winning five of their eight games with two second places (62.5% wins, 87.5% ITM). The second place team of Anderluck-Benny has two wins while three other teams have one win each. Six of the eleven starting teams are winless and one team has yet to record an ITM finish. The 12th team of Vuelo-RonRon will join this first tourney when RonRon returns soon.
The Magic City pelota game roster is 26-players, however three of them are currently sidelined for medical reasons. El Barba had a knee procedure during break and should be back soon and RonRon (back issues) should also be returning soon. Spinner had a serious injury last year and is expected back this summer.
The pelota game betting handle remains well above the 2021 meet at this point. Trifecta wagers are the most popular by far, as usual for Jai-Alai games, and the trifecta pool average in 2022 is running 53% higher than the last month of the 2021 season and 35% higher than the average trifecta pool for all of 2021. Average trifecta prices for 2022 are also starting out big with the $1.00 trifecta averaging $280.50 over the first 40-games compared to $221.50 for all of 2021, thus a 27% increase.
Be sure to watch and support the Magic City pelota games every Sunday through Tuesday at 1:30-pm EST. Sign up to wager with watchandwager.com to place wagers on pelota games or with mywinners.com for CT residents. Some state restrictions on wagering apply. Watch and wager live in the Jai-Alai fronton area only for Sunday’s games.
Entries and programs for Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering games, now referred to as “Pelota” are available on the Magic City website and on links on the SayHiLi website for the Monday & Tuesday 1:30-pm performances next week.
Note that 4-players’ names have changed for the Battle Court H2H games to their last names, however, their previous Pelota season names will not change for Pelota games. Anderluck, Cool Fitness, Juice and Tennessee will play under those names for Pelota but will be playing as Correa, Williams, Joseph and Roque for Battle Court H2H. The BC H2H change for the four players is to accommodate the new sports betting fans with improved player recognition while still maintaining the original names for the Pelota fans who are used to their original playing names since 2018. Stu perhaps can wordsmith this better, but this is what I’ve gleaned from the conversation Thursday afternoon.
As of Thursday, the start date for El Barba in Pelota games has been delayed and he is now expected to be safe for a March 1 start. The delayed start for El Barba is why Bueno, Bradley, Ben and Anderluck each have been backfilled into spots in Monday and Tuesday’s early Pelota games 1 & 2. Currently the Pelota doubles games feature 11 doubles teams with an additional team of Vuelo-RonRon expected to take the floor by March 1 when RonRon returns from his back injury. All 11 current Pelota doubles teams will make their debut in games 5 and/or 7 during Monday’s 2022 season opener. Check the entries for the teams.
Also, be sure to mark your calendars for the World Super Court 1st qualifier event which features 8-doubles team on Wednesday next week. The first match will start at 3-pm EST.
Now, here’s some info on Magic City Pelota and Battle Court H2H schedules including a quote from Stu Neiman. Some fans don’t understand the days and times so here we go. H2H games are the future of Jai-Alai. Magic City asked the sports betting partner, BetRivers, what days and times Jai-Alai would have the best chance of succeeding and thus the 5-pm time slot on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday came to be. Competing against NFL is a huge disadvantage, so the Sunday plan changes to Saturday later in the year when NFL starts up again. Also, some fans are curious as to why the Pelota games are before H2H at 1:30-pm instead of after the 5-pm H2H games. Here is the direct quote from Stu, “Pelota is a better warm-up for H2H.”
Be sure to tune-in on Monday at 1:30-pm for the kick-off of Pelota games with the new and exciting Battle Court H2H games at 5-pm where the team concept comes into play. As previously stated, the popular weekly FREE handicapping contest returns on week 2 on February 20th. Listen to Andrew during the broadcasts next week for details.
Also, be sure to check Pelotapress.com regularly for more info and blog stories involving Magic City and the world of amateur Jai-Alai.
Thank you, Magic City Jai-Alai!! I’m looking forward to a fantastic year!!
The first of four qualifying events for the World Super Court Finals in October is being held at Magic City Jai-Alai on Wednesday, February 16th. The four qualifying dates are 2/16, 4/13, 6/8 (these dates at Magic City), and one day in September for an overseas qualifier with a date TBD. This year is the inaugural year of Magic City’s big money Jai-Alai doubles tournament open to Jai-Alai professionals of all nationalities called “World Super Court.”
Each of the four qualifying events will start with 4-matches of doubles teams, thus 8-doubles teams are involved. The matches will be played using the H2H format. All players must have recent professional Jai-Alai experience. The top two teams from each qualifying day will be entered into the Thursday, October 13th finals where the eight teams will compete for the World Super Court prize money. The day before the finals, Oct 12, is slated as a practice day for the finalists.
Here are the 8-teams for the first qualifying event on Wednesday next week and the first-round matches that will be played for this event:
Benny-Douglas vs Ikeda-Manny
Zulaika-Arrieta vs Jeden-Jairo
Inaki-Julen vs Foronda-Amigorena
Goixerri-Aratz vs Bueno-Kubala
According to Stu Neiman, the April 3rd qualifying round currently has 3-players of the 16 who are officially signed-up at this time; Erik, Robin and RonRon.
The qualifying events can be seen on watchjaialai.com which is the same channel for viewing Magic City Battle Court H2H games on Monday & Tuesday next week.
The new and exciting take on H2H Jai-Alai at Magic City Casino & Jai-Alai, called Battle Court H2H, makes its debut on Monday, February 14th at 5-pm EST following the first PMW games of 2022 where the Cesta Cyclones take on the Chula Chargers. Battle Court H2H is essentially a team concept for H2H that involves four Squads of 6-players per Squad that will compete against each other in singles and doubles H2H games.
On a Battle Court H2H day (following PMW games), a Squad will compete against another Squad with five events: 3-singles games and 2-doubles games. A singles win is worth 1-point and a doubles win is worth 1.5 points. Points are accumulated for the Battle Court season from Feb 14 through April 10 and the two Squads with the most points will square-off in the Battle Court Championship on April 12. There is a bonus of $6,000 per player on the winning Squad.
The names of the four Squads are the Cesta Cyclones, Chula Chargers, Rebote Renegades and Wall Warriors. There is one Captain per team, designated by (C) after the captain’s name. The squads were able to formulate their own doubles teams. No player could play on more than two teams and each player had to play on at least one team. According to Stu Neiman, “The players are excited, it’s fun and the interest has been wonderful. New synergies, sponsorships, exclusivity agreements and other sources of potential revenue are already opening up. Which, in essence, means that the fixed odds, sports betting model is already working because it’s about far more than what is bet on each match. BetRivers has even opened a line on which team will win the whole thing.”
Scratches will be handled differently for Battle Court H2H. A lower ranked player can fill in for a scratched player in singles or doubles, however, if a scratch occurs during a match, that match will be forfeited as in the past. Rankings are 1-6 for singles (S1-S6) and 1-4 for doubles teams (D1-D4) within each Squad. A singles S1 player competes against other S1 players in other Squads and likewise for the other singles ranks. It’s different for doubles as D1 & D2 ranked teams can compete against each other and D3 & D4 ranked teams can compete against each other. Here are the Squads with players, rankings, and captain designations:
H2H Sports Betting is now expanded into seven states under BetRivers.com and is also approved in Nevada, however there is no partner yet (like BetRivers) to carry it. The seven states now with Magic City H2H sports betting through BetRivers are Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The 2022 Magic City Jai-Alai pari-mutuel wagering (PMW) season starts on February 14th with an expanded roster. Manu (Ladutxe), Inaki (Goitia), Nicolas (Yeche), Goixerri, Aratz and Robin will be playing in the short-court Magic City Jai-Alai PMW games. Jairo has also been added to the MC roster but won’t be playing PMW games as he will be judging PMW games. Manny, aka Manuel, the top Calder player, will continue judging PMW games and both he and Jairo will be competing in the Battle Court H2H games this year.
The PMW games have no changes in number of games or bet types offered. There will be 3-categories of singles games this year; early (games 1,2), middle (games 3,4) and late (games 6,8). Vuelo is back and will be playing in early games. RonRon will still be sidelined at the start due to his back but is expected to start playing in PMW games at the end of this month. Spinner is still recovering from his injury but could be back in May/June. Both Vuelo and RonRon will be judging Battle Court H2H games. Norge Alvarez (played at Calder) will continue judging both PMW and H2H at Magic City. He’s been judging since 2018. Doubles games will continue being games 5 and 7.
The scouting report on Magic City Jai-Alai has been 100% great news. Practices are high-energy and for the first time the Magic City players have picked-up where they left off the previous year. Nicolas has been standing out and Manu has been adjusting well to the smaller court. Both Stu and Andrew have used the same word in describing the practices at Magic City so far; FANTASTIC!
There are (4) name changes on the roster for previous Magic City players (now using their last name); Juice is now Joseph, Anderluck is now Correa, Tennessee is Roque and Cool Fitness is Williams. The one and only El Barba is still playing under the name El Barba. He had knee surgery over the break and is expected to be playing in PMW games next week in the first two singles games.
The highly popular $1 Pick 5 Jackpot wager called the Jai-5 is expected to be more difficult to hit this year with the addition of new players making singles games more competitive. A bettor can only win the Jai-5 jackpot if they have the only winning ticket correctly selecting all five winners of games 3-7. The minimum jackpot is $2,000 if you are the only winning ticket. Likewise, the Mighty Ocho, a $1 Pick 8 Jackpot wager for games 1-8 will also be more difficult to hit. Last year the first ever Mighty Ocho was won by a lucky bettor, and they were paid the minimum $5,000 for that score. The largest Jai-5 in Magic City history was a whopping $27,348 last April to one lucky winner.
Be sure to watch Magic City PMW games the day after the Super Bowl, one week from Monday! Battle Court H2H makes its debut at 5-pm following the PMW performance Monday the 14th. The popular H2H handicapping contest will continue and start on February 20th. Stay tuned for blog posts on Magic City Battle Court H2H and World Super Court qualifying rounds!
I’m trying to complete a Jai-Alai betting ticket collection and need tickets from the following (5) US Jai-Alai frontons as I don’t have a single ticket from any of these:
Palm Beach, Newport, Orlando, Melbourne (aka Brevard), Kings Court
I have other Jai-Alai memorabilia for barter for your tickets (including programs, postcards, brochures, matchbook covers/matchbooks, bumper stickers, license plates, caps, pens, photos, advertisements and more) or can pay good ole cash if the prices are reasonable. I also have more of the same type of greyhound racing memorabilia if you wish to barter for those type of memorabilia items. I’m always looking for betting tickets from greyhound tracks along with horse tracks too (the older the better).
If you should have any older betting tickets (1936 through 1960’s) from any of the early Jai-Alai frontons, please contact me. I’m only looking for very good to excellent quality tickets where the print is all very clear to read (not a fan of tickets with faded or incomplete print). I’m not interested in admission tickets; only the pari-mutuel betting tickets. I’m always on the lookout for more tickets and ones of different tote styles and wager types too. I don’t have any tickets for a Jai-Alai Pick 6 bet and that would be a neat addition. There are some frontons where I only have several tickets (i.e., Hamilton) and would like to acquire more. I do have a pretty ample supply of Big Bend and Ocala betting tickets. I would like to acquire enough extra tickets to donate a complete set to Jeff “Laca” Conway’s Jai-Alai & Baseball Museum in Seminole FL so they can be enjoyed by visitors. Any help would be much appreciated!
Please contact me through the following website email address if you can help and include your name. I can’t respond immediately but will be monitoring for responses daily. I will only deal with continental USA and Canada for shipping/receiving items. Here is the contact email: sayhili@earthlink.net
Thanks again! Steve Martin (aka Straymar)
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