Jai Alai

I

Introduction

Jai Alai (Basque for “holy day,””merry festival”), ball game of Basque origin, played by opposing individuals or teams who alternately bounce a small, hard ball against one, two, or three walls and catch it upon its return. Jai alai is, therefore, a type of handball. It is one of the fastest of all games and requires great agility and coordination. The objective of the game is to amass a given number of points by forcing the opponent to miss the ball or to throw it out of bounds. The ball, or pelota, is caught and propelled with a glovelike, scoop-shaped wicker basket, the cesta, which is strapped to the player's wrist. Jai alai matches are usually played in a large auditorium known as a fronton; the court on which the game is played is called a cancha.

II

Playing Space and Equipment

The cancha is rectangular in shape, with walls about 12 m (about 40 ft) high. Although the court can vary in dimension, the shorter sides of the rectangle, the front wall (or frontis) and the back wall (rebote) are usually about 17 m (about 55 ft) wide. They are connected along the left side of the court by a sidewall (lateral) that ranges in length from 49 to 61 m (160 to 200 ft). Along the right or fourth side of the rectangle is a wire screen behind which the spectators sit. The frontis is made of granite blocks; the other walls and floor of the cancha are made of cement.

The jai alai ball is made of a core of strands of hard rubber wound under tension, covered with an inner layer of linen thread and two outer layers of goat skin. About 5 cm (about 2 in) in diameter and weighing 128 g (4.5 oz), the pelota is approximately three-quarters the size of a baseball and much harder. During the fast rallies the ball travels at speeds exceeding 241 km/h (150 mph). Professional players in the United States wear protective helmets. The regulation uniform also consists of white trousers, colored sash or belt, numbered shirt, and white rubber-soled shoes. Cestas, constructed of reeds woven over a frame of chestnut, are custom-made to player specifications; they vary somewhat in size and are usually about 60 cm (24 in) long.

III

Rules of Play

A game of jai alai commences when a player bounces the pelota on the court and hurls it forcibly against the front wall. The pelota must land in a box designated by two red lines painted across the court; if it does not, the server loses the point. Following the serve, the ball must be caught in the air or on the first bounce and must be returned to the front wall in one continuous motion. If the ball is juggled in the cesta, holding is called, and the team loses the point. If during the play of a point the ball lands on the wooden apron of the court or hits the roof or the cushioned area around the walls, the team that threw it loses the point. A rally continues until a ball is dropped, bounces twice, or is thrown out of bounds. A team does not have to be serving to score a point. In the partido format, the winner of the point continues (or begins) serving, and the loser continues (or begins) receiving. In the quiniela round-robin format, the team that loses the point sits down and waits its turn to regain the court. Professional games have three judges who stand facing the sidewall. Probably the most difficult maneuver in a jai alai game is the rebote shot, in which a player catches the ball as it comes off the back wall and returns it in a single motion to the front wall.

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IV

Scoring and Betting

Jai alai can be played by two players (as in singles) or four players (as in doubles). The number of points required to win a jai alai game varies, and there are two basic types of jai alai formats. The partido, a singles or doubles head-to-head match, is the original European version and is usually played to 35 or 40 points. The quiniela, popularized in the United States, is a singles or doubles round-robin competition in which teams match up for individual points. The quiniela format usually involves eight teams, with the first team to acquire 7 points declared the winner.

Several forms of jai alai betting are popular. In the partido game, betters simply wager on which team they believe will win. In the quiniela format, several more complex betting schemes exist, including the quiniela (picking the top two finishers in any order), the perfecta (picking the first and second place finishers in the exact order), and the trifecta (picking the top three finishers in the exact order). In the United States, the game is a pari-mutuel sport in which bets are placed through a computerized system, with winners dividing the amount of money wagered.