Archive for category: Jeff ‘Laca’ Conway Blogs

 

If you are among the few that still go to Derby Lane to place bets on jai-alai (yes, you Crab!), we have some breaking news to share with you.  Multiple sources have confirmed to the Pelota Press that the huge 144-acre Derby Lane property has been sold and will become a huge Destination Venue with a huge casino operating (at least) slot machines and poker, a hotel with parking lot, retail, and restaurants. 

Located in St. Petersburg Florida, Derby Lane was once the oldest and largest continuously open dog racing track in the world until a voters from a statewide amendment voted to shut down dog racing.  They last ran racing on December 27, 2020.  Crowds of over 10,000 a night were common as people flocked to the huge facility for nearly 100 years.  A tuxedo dressed band would play the march before every race and male patrons were required to wear a jacket in the huge multilevel restaurant overlooking the finish line.      

On Tuesday, April 15^th, the property was reportedly sold to an investor with close connections to the Seminole Tribe.  Today, the track still operates a huge and very successful poker room with various casino games such as 3 card poker and parimutuel wagering.  The parking lot is rented by Amazon with hundreds of trucks seen in the lot at any time. 

The plan is to open a huge casino with slot machines.  While all this sounds hunky-dory, I question about the legality of it.  Casinos with slot machines in the state of Florida must be on Indian land unless they were a parimutuel operating in Broward or Dade County where voters approved it many years ago.  Those include Pompano, Magic City, Gulfstream, Dania, Calder, and a few others.  The Hard Rock in Tampa operates the highest grossing casino in the United States, while Hollywood’s multiple Hard Rock casinos including the Guitar Hotel & Casino offer a Vegas-like atmosphere.  The Hard Rock is the only company that can operate casinos in Florida (outside of the ones already in operation in those two countries mentioned) for the next 30 years.

This buyer does have a connection or a relationship with the Hard Rock, but not much else is known about him.  I’m pretty sure that the Hard Rock would have to be involved and legally turn that 144 acre (of which only 100 acres can be built on because of low water levels, mangroves, tec.).

The selling price was reportedly for $60 million dollars.  The entire building, which opened on January 3, 1925, would be torn down and replaced with the casino, retail, hotel with garage.  Would be nice seeing something there instead of the Amazon Parking lot that hogs it up now.

Hopefully, our jai-alai betters will be able to continue to bet our great sport there if parimutuel wagering is offered.  

Could Derby Lane be designated tribal land?  According to our buddy Joe Cannella, all they need is the Department of the Interior to approve it. 

If you recall when sports betting was approved, the DOI is solidly on the Tribe’s side.  Not sure if Tampa Bay Downs or the old Tampa Dog track, which operate poker rooms, would appreciate that.     

There is another tournament coming up – and this one is soon.  This one is being held at in Cancun, Mexico at Fronton Salas in Quintana Roo.

The dates are set for the weekend of March 14-16^th.  It will be an international-friendly tournament.

Registration is by couples with a competition system set according to those registered.  Once registration is closed, a system will be determined and will be communicated in advance.  

According to their press release, there will be a First and Second “force”.  Each couple will suggest in which strength they want to participate.  According to the registered players, the acceptance of the suggested force will evaluated as well as the possibility of opening an extra force following the main objective of coexistence and fair play.

Partido’s will start at 10am with prior registration of pelotaris per day at 9am. 

The deadline to register is February 24^th.  The host of the tournament is Fernando Gonzalez. 

There are two registration fee packages:

Package A (all inclusive)    

Includes participation in the tournament, use of facilities, pelota’s, two T-shirts per participant, first and second place trophies and taquiza on the last day.  In case you didn’t know, that is a Taco buffet!   

Fee $85 USD

Package B

Incluides participation in the tournament, use of facilities, pelota’s, and trophies.  

Fee $60 USD

Guests

One T-shirt and taquiza on last day.

Fee $35 USD

From the United States, we do know Rastock, RG3 and Belota are likely going and George San Juan from Miami and others likely going.  I have been supplying the pelota’s they use for the past several years at this new court and their previous one and glad to donate the trophy tops of the jai-alai figurine to my good friends out there, the Salas family.   

February 3, 2025:  The second annual Sunshine City Jai-alai Tournament concluded this past weekend after 11 hours of action-packed jai-alai featuring 32 players across the country.  It was the largest tournament held player wise ever in the 17-year history at America’s first and only jai-alai cancha.  Weather was perfect with mostly cloudy skies and temps in the mid-70s.  The attendance Saturday was 56.    

Scott King, the former Tampa Jai-alai pro player, and Matt Sutton, nephew of the “great” Anthony Sutton, were the winners of big event held at Puryear Park in St. Petersburg.  If it wasn’t for a late scratch Saturday morning, this entire headline and outcome would have been dramatically different. 

Matt Sutton, 27, was the second youngest player out there, was originally teamed up with Gizmo, aka Daniel Schwartz who played pro at Daytona and Melbourne in the 80s.  But he was scratched at the last minute, and event organizer Scott King was in a pickle.  He had to switch cloths from scorekeeper and ref to be a replacement player and eventually went all the way to the final game on Sunday afternoon – winning the event!  Talk about Clark Kent turning into Superman.   Scott King played like he had turned the clock back 40 years when he played on one of the top 3 rosters in the world for 14 years.    

But perhaps the real champ was Matt Sutton.  There must be good jai-alai blood in their family genes or something,  but this kid really turned it up a notch.  He didn’t drop a ball or hit the pad until his last game on Sunday and was amazing.  Never in the years I’ve seen him play since a teenager, have seen anything like it.  And he was playing against some tuff cookies out there – including many top players from Connecticut and Miami, not to mention his uncle and others in Tampa Bay.  Almost half the players out there had played professionally – on top of it.

Congrats to Scott King and Matt – you deserved it.   

The entire 11 hours were broadcast live on Twitch with a professional camera crew of several people filming it. 

The format was also set up on Bracket HQ – a great website that anybody could log into and follow along.           

Here is how the format was set up:

There were 6 “B” teams that played in Group A in the Bracket HQ app on Saturday morning.  The top two advanced to the elimination bracket on Sunday.  There were 10 teams classified as “A” players and were in groups B and C on the Bracket HQ app. The three top groups from each of those two advanced to the finals on Sunday.  They were seeded 1-6 while the two winning teams from the “B” category were seeded as 7 and 8.  That created the 8-team bracket for Sunday’s finals in Doubles.

Magic Mike and J Laca were the winners from the “B” players, winning all 5 of their games – the only team in all three groups to accomplish that.  Joining them to the finals on Sunday were Seminole King and Rick B.       

Because time allotted, there was a singles event added on Saturday with the main doubles event rapping up at 4:01pm.  Fifteen (15) players participated with 4 players advancing to the finals on Sunday.  The four finalized were Anthony, Monte, Brodie, and Rule.  Anthony eventually beat Brodi in the finals.  There were no trophies for them because it was not originally scheduled, but I’ll be getting them ordered tomorrow and be presented later at a TBA. 

The event overall went well – everyone seemed to be enjoying the event.  There was about a 7-minute delay on Saturday afternoon as a huge fight broke out in an adjacent soccer field with about 50 players converging in a battle that even saw a coach – a grown man shoved a player to the ground hard.  Another 100 spectators were at their event in shock while the adults – both coaches and refs supposedly to be in charge – did nothing to stop it.          

Special thanks to Scott King for putting on a great event and a special thanks to those that helped getting the cancha looking new again. We also want to thank RG3, our latest player to be a regular at the St. Pete Cancha, for all the help he did in getting the court renovations done in preparation for the tournament. 

Refurbished Cancha Ready for Big Tournament  

January 31, 2025:  America’s first and only public jai-alai cancha is ready for the big Sunshine City Tournament this weekend.

After being closed for about a week for much needed repairs and a paint job, everything is a go for the two-day event that kicks off at 10am tomorrow.  At least 30 players are expected to compete in the event.  

Several players were practicing and included many from the Miami area and Connecticut.

The event will be live with a full camera crew on YouTube.  We do not have exact details, but it may be under this title Tampa Jai-alai. 

There is a slight chance of a shower or two early Saturday morning, around 5-7am.  We don’t foresee any issues outside of a wet court but should be dried up by the 10am post time.  Otherwise, the skies should clear up and be in the mid-70s for the rest of the weekend.  Can’t argue with that after the cold everyone experienced last week.     

https://brackethq.com/b/bbucc/

GROUP A WILL PLAY 5 GAMES TO 7 POINTS EACH. GROUPS B & C PLAY 3 GAMES TO 10 POINTS.

Puryear Park Cancha Closed for Renovations Plus Tournament Bracket

Editors Note:  This is our first story to be posted on Pelota Press in 4 months and it is no coincidence it had to be due to Hurricane Helene.  I’ll have details and lots of photos later to explain.  But first, a public notice that needs to go out:   

America’s first and only public jai-alai court is closed for several days this week in preparation for the annual “Scott King” Sunshine City Jai-alai tournament scheduled for this weekend.

Workers are fixing the cancha’s damage from Hurricane Milton along with filling in the cracks and holes on the walls and floors from the brutal beating it takes with the millions of Matt Balls slamming on it (Belota and RG3 throws – not Magic Mike’s!).

On Thursday, the court walls will be painted with a fresh coat of green, covering up the white markings from the balls taping coming off and the faded paint.

The court is scheduled to be open on Friday as players from all over the county be able to practice for the weekend festivities that start at 10am Saturday.

The Pelota Press will have details later this week on the tournament.      

Here is bracket so far:

https://brackethq.com/b/bbucc/