The latest scoop on Dania Casino and Jai-alai
The latest scoop on Dania Casino and Jai-alai
America’s only remaining goatskin pelota and granite front wall fronton, with a 3-month “tournament like” season, has been pleased with the results from the past two seasons.
The 22-man roster, mainly composed of young players from the Basque region, has fielded the roster for the past two seasons. The next tournament will begin a tad earlier this year – Friday, November 29th. Yes, this is the day after Thanksgiving, and will give the fronton an extra weekend to draw from the many tourists and locals who are enjoying the long weekend holiday. Normally, Dania would open on sometime during the first week of December. Players will have till June 30th to commit to playing the season. The season will run till Sunday, February 23rd
There has been some remodeling and shuffling around of the slot machines in the casino, with a smoking section getting added in an indoor/outdoor setting. The high rollers room is being relocated in the back room and has undergone extensive renovations. Dania is even bringing downstairs some of the card games, which in the past has been exclusively upstairs. I like that idea and think it will help.
As far as the slot machine numbers go, Dania’s numbers lately appear to be the highest they have even been. In March of 2024, the state’s reported numbers say they did $4,812,224 in net revenue. This was a 7% increase from last year’s numbers. The other jai-alai operator, Magic City (different owners now on the casino side), had a robust gain of 14% and did $12,134,094, just a million below the perennial leader – The Isle of Pompano. Both Magic City and Pompano are a good 45–60-minute drive away from The Hard Rock Casino, while Dania is only about 15 minutes away, and the closest of all the old pari-mutuals.
Getting back to Dania’s jai-alai operation, here is the last seasons pari-mutuel numbers, month by month:
December 2023 48% live handle $609,963
January 2024 40% live handle $640,299
February 2024 44% live handle $537,269
Special thanks to Tiger for posting this information monthly on his site.
You may be asking why did we post the live handle numbers? Because on bets made at the fronton, the house keeps about an average of 25% of the handle. All other bets, such as Watch and Wager, the payback is very little going back to the establishment. I believe it is 4% with Dania that they receive, barely enough to wipe your ass with.
Benny does operate under a strict budget with Dania and the numbers come very close to breaking even. Added benefits of additional people in the casino and the food establishments are a bonus.
Be sure to make plans to watch Dania Jai-alai later this year!
