History:
The jai alai game is originally from Spanish Basque.
Jai alai means merry festival in Basque because it was mainly played during festive events. The basic object of the game is to hurl a ball or a racket on a wall until one of the opponents miss it and loses his points.
An early version of jai alai was apparently popular in 18th century Spain, especially in the Basque region, where the familiar version of the game has developed. In the late 1890s, jai alai started reaching more destinations, including Latin America, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The game arrived to the US by Cuban immigrants, and it became especially popular in Florida.
The man who is responsible of making jai alai popular sports in Florida is Pedro Mir. Mir was a Cuban professional jai alai player who arrived to the States in 1923. He worked for the Miami fronton as chief judge and matchmaker until he retired in 1975. He is also responsible for adjusting the jai alai rules, which are followed until our days.
Florida allowed parimutuel betting on jai alai in 1934. Betting on jai alai is similar to horseracing betting. There are two types of jai alai parimutuel betting: perfecta and quiniela betting. Perfecta bet, is when the first two players or teams must finish to be selected by the bettor. In quiniela wager, the bettor has to choose the two finishing players or teams.
