The Real Scoop on the Magic City Mighty Ocho.
The Real Scoop on the Magic City Mighty Ocho
by Steve Martin, 8/25/2020
Magic City Jai-alai has a new bet this year called the Mighty Ocho. The Mighty Ocho is a Jackpot type wager for $1 where one picks the winners of games 1 through 8. It has a guaranteed jackpot of $2,000 to a single winner. Currently, the jackpot is at $1,753.20 which is still under the $2,000 guarantee. Thus, if one picks all 8-winners now, they would get a $2,000 payoff. The Mighty Ocho works exactly like the “Jai-ly” popular Jai-5 wager which was introduced to Magic City Jai-alai customers after the start of the 2019 season. The breakdown is as follows: 20% takeout for the house, 40% goes to the bettor(s) with the most winners, the other 40% goes to the jackpot carryover pool.
Is the Mighty Ocho wager as bad as one of the oldest Jai-alai blog site says it is? Let’s explore the truth on this with some simple facts from the Mighty Ocho history. Granted the Mighty Ocho is not for everyone, but one thing for sure, the Mighty Ocho is more popular than betting on Win tickets, Place tickets or Show tickets at Magic City Jai-alai and even Dania Jai-alai. Therefore it’s certainly not in the bottom 3 least popular wagers in recent Jai-alai history for sure, so SayHiLi doesn’t understand what all the Mighty Ocho “whining” is all about.
Is the Mighty Ocho wager impossible to hit? Apparently not at Magic City! Recently on August 22 at the 4-pm performance one talented bettor came very close by selecting 7 of the 8 winners. Now the Mighty Ocho gross pool was only $39 for that performance, and the consolation payoff is 40% of the pool, so the winner received $15.60 for their winning ticket (there was only one winning ticket with 7 of 8). Another time earlier this year, on the May 17 Sunday matinee performance, one bettor had the first 6-winners selected correctly, and had two numbers onto one number to complete their ticket. That must have been pretty exciting for that bettor with a cool $2,000 within their grasp. This tidbit of info was found out by SayHiLi with their numerous connections with Jai-alai bettors supporting Magic City Jai-alai. So, apparently, it’s not as difficult of a Pick 8 as the Pick 8’s in the past (i.e. Palm Beach Jai-alai had a guaranteed $50,000 Pick 8 in the 1992-93 era, see the referenced photo of a Palm Beach Jai-alai program cover touting the $50k Pick 8 wager).
Handicappers at Magic City Jai-alai are among some of the best and handicapping at Magic City Jai-alai isn’t as difficult as Jai-alai handicapping in the past since there is more disparity between player’s records at Magic City. Win records over 40% in singles for players like Douglas make wagers like the Mighty Ocho and the Jai-5 a lot more attractive and interesting that’s for sure. We’ve never seen win records like this before in our lifetime!
Let’s take a look at the statistics on the Mighty Ocho for the first mandatory payout that occurred on the June 28 Sunday matinee performance. We understand the Mighty Ocho is up for grabs again very soon with another mandatory payout at the end of the Edgewater meet at Magic City. This is on Sunday, August 30. This is an important date for anyone wanting a shot at a BIG PAYOFF. Both the Jai-5 and the Mighty Ocho will be mandatory payouts at the end of the Edgewater meet on Sunday.
The first Mighty Ocho mandatory had a jackpot carryover of $1,631.60 going into the Sunday matinee (Note: currently the Mighty Ocho jackpot is $122 higher than this). There was $4,293 wagered into the first mandatory payout. There were (2) winners that correctly selected 6 of the 8 winners and each winning ticket paid an impressive $2,533. That’s pretty damn good for a days work. Had only (1) person selected 6 of 8, they would have scored a payoff of a whopping $5,066! This next mandatory payout coming up could easily pay even more than $5,066. Keep that thought in your mind as these bets only cost $1.00 each.
There have been 93-total Mighty Ocho opportunities this year. Let’s exclude the mandatory payout event and take a look at the results for the other 92-events (# of Winners Correct, How Many Times (of 92-events), Average $1.00 Payoff). The average Mighty Ocho betting pool for these 92-events was $92. What is usually seen when bettors hear about an upcoming mandatory payout is a drop in wagering activity as they are waiting for the mandatory payout to make their investment, and a larger investment too. Perhaps that is the part of the reason for the recent drop-off in the Mighty Ocho wagering activity? Here is the real scoop on Magic City’s Mighty Ocho statistics:
x/8 Correct: # Winners & Average $1.00 Payoff
7/8: 1x $15.60 (pool was $39 for this one event)
6/8: 12x $56.90
5/8: 24x $21.50
4/8: 29x $21.80
3/8: 18x $6.40
2/8: 8x $3.20
So, is this “Mighty Ocho” really “mighty meager” as someone has been saying on one of the Jai-alai chat posts? Not exactly true that’s for sure, LOL. Get real and give Magic City and Scott Savin a break, enough of this BS and Magic City “bashing and trashing” at every chance and trying to tell Magic City how to run their business model. Good grief, Magic City Jai-alai has made a boatload of great decisions in every area and the short-court version of Jai-alai is rapidly growing in popularity! They are to be commended for what they have accomplished. Keep in mind, a $1.00 investment on a Mighty Ocho wager is for a sequence of 8-games, so effectively it’s costing 12.5-cents a game (pretty cheap entertainment). The Mighty Ocho can be a fun and challenging wager!
It’s pretty amazing that Magic City has been able to provide Jai-alai sports fans with this great opportunity to watch and wager on Jai-alai games from the comfort of one’s home during this awful covid mess! They even offer a FREE Weekly Fantasy Jai-alai League and last week’s cash prize was $150 to the weekly winner. As previously stated, not all bets are for all customers. Casinos have Penny Slots all the way up to a High Limit Slot area, so why shouldn’t Jai-alai be able to offer an array of various options to try and satisfy more of their fan base? SayHiLi applauds Magic City Jai-alai for offering customers a wide variety of wagers on their wagering menu. Time to stick a fork in this “Mighty Ocho whining”……is the whining ever going to stop?……it’s getting pretty old and repetitive! Do you actually think that Magic City Jai-alai fans or management cares that it “really bothers you?” Have you even spent a $1.00 on the Mighty Ocho yourself? Like a famous Jai-alai fan we all know has often said “You know who you are.”
