EDITOR'S NOTE

 

This book was originally written in 1977, when the world of jai-alai was greatly different than it is today. Certain things mentioned here are simply not true today---numbers, proportions and emphasis have changed. Although further expansion of jai-alai was expected at the time, the opposite has occurred. Economics, demographics and fronton closures have tweaked some of the concepts mentioned here, but the overall thread sustains.

I had a (fortunately resistable) temptation to update all the book's examples to contemporary conditions, but, not only would this have been extremely difficult, it would have deprived the work, and the author, of that special time element, that which gives us a snapshot that may never exist again.

"Look for it now only in books for it is no more than a
dream remembered. A civilization…gone with the wind…"
from Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

But, for the younger reader, who may not be familiar with the game as it existed 28 years ago, here are a few examples of things that ARE different today:

A number of frontons have closed
New exotic bets are available
Post assignments are now balanced
Bet increments are generally reduced
Pool sizes are smaller
On-line betting is available

You will find though, that the flavor of the game has not changed, nor have the handicapping concepts changed much either, other than being greatly assisted by computer technology.

"Tiger"
Pomfret, Connecticut
2/9/05