Basque pelota for betting, during the 80's and 90's Jai-Alai was especially popular in Miami and Florida where the frontons had press boxes, restaurants, and going to the Jai-Alai was seen to be a privilege. Men often came in suits and women came in elaborate dresses for the "special event". Nowadays Jai-Alai has dropped in popularity instead of thousands of people who came to watch now there are barely a couple hundred. Pelota is usually played in the Basque regions of south-western France and north-eastern Spain, where it originates. There are also federations of Basque ball in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa
Spanish Federation of Basque Pelota Spanish Basque Pelota Federation. The first typed of pelota to be included were doubles hand-pelota, "pala", "remonte" and "cesta punta". Provincial federations were set up in Álava, Aragón, Castile, Cataluña, Guipúzcoa, Navarra, Salamanca and Vizcaya. The activities of the Federation were interrupted during the Civil War but were restarted in 1940, when singles hand-pelota and short "pala" categories were introduced. The same year the first top-tier hand-pelota singles championship was organized, resulting in the win of Atano III over Txikito de Iraeta with a final score of 22-8. In 1941 the first top-tier hand-pelota doubles championship was played, resulting in