A few observations on jai-alai
Fish: I'm familiar with the story about pool manipulation. It's very long and detailed. The key element was making $1 bets off-track, that could only be made for $2 or $3 at the fronton. I believe it was on pick6 carry-over pools. Only room for one person to do it. I think it was corrected long ago.
The problem with jai-alai is the house must hold about 18% to operate.Very difficult to overcome. Pools are small, trifectas probably account for over 60% of betting.
The scoring favors low numbers. Usually 8 teams ( or players). Post 1 serves to post 2, winner plays post 3, and so on. Points in first round count as 1 point, after post 8 has played one point, points score 2 points for the rest of the game. 7 points usually wins.
Posts 5-7 are the most difficult to win from. Usually the best players are assigned those positions. I think Miami does it randomly.
oddly having the serve in a doubles game is somewhat of a disadvantage, but it's a big advantage in singles.
Certain number combinations occur so infrequently, they should never be bet ( for trifecta). For example 7-8-6, or 5-7-6, etc.The pay-out won't justify the bet. A year could pass before 7-8-6 hits.
Most people just play the same number combinations every game ( about 12-15 games equals a performance).
No team should ever be even money or better, or longer than about 12:1. The trifecta money is reasonably split amoung the teams. Win odds mean little. A $20 bet at post time can change 10:1 into 2:1
I used to have success betting perfectas ( Exactas) at post time, and taking all the long odds.They had monitors set up displaying the odds. After a time everyone knew this trick, and it no longer worked. Even now a quinella sometimes pays more than a perfecta.
It's great entertainment, but not profitable. Very tough game to cap. You can get an excellent seat for a few dollars.
I'd reccomend anyone visiting Florida take in a performance, but bet small. It's much more exciting than horse/dog racing.
The game is played very differently in Europe. They have long matches ( partidos) with 2 teams, and you can bet after every point. The American version penalizes the best players with it's format. They also get 2 attempts at serving in Europe.
( like tennis). Think how tennis would be different with one serve, that's why serving is a disadvantage ( in doubles).
I miss the game, I wasn't aware Newport also folded. Miami is suppossed to have the best players. The best games are the last 5-6 games on the card, best players.
