How To Play Jai-alai

By Dania Jai-Alai

Object:  To hurl a pelota (ball) against the front wall of the court with so much speed and spin that the opposition cannot catch or return it on the fly or the first bounce.

Set-up:  In the quiniela format, it is played in a round-robin, usually by 8 players or teams. The game begins when Player No. 1 (or Team No. 1) serves the ball to Player No. 2 (or Team No. 2). The winner of the point stays on the court to meet the next player (or team) in rotation. Losers go to the end of the line to await another turn on the court. The first player (team) to score 7 points (or 9 in Superfecta games) wins. The next highest scores are "place" (second) and "show" (third). Playoffs decide tied scores.

Serving:  The server must bounce the ball behind the serving line (the No. 11 line), and, with the cesta, hurl the ball directly to the front wall so that upon rebound it will bounce between lines No. 4 and 7. If it does not it is an under or over serve and the other team will receive the point.

Scoring:  The ball must be caught on the fly or first bounce and may touch the floor only once. All three walls are in play - the red is out of bounds. In “Spectacular Seven/Nine” scoring point value is 1 until each team has played once, thereafter point value is 2.

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