Jai alai Jai alai Jai alai (; Basque: ) is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held device (cesta). It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where the sport is played. The game is called "zesta-punta" (basket tip) in Basque. The Basque Government promotes "jai alai" as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the speed of the ball. The sport once held the world record for ball speed
Gambling in Connecticut 1992, opened its casino in 1996. Parimutuel wagering on horse racing, greyhound racing, and jai alai is offered at sixteen off-track betting (OTB) parlors around the state operated by Sportech, and also at the two tribal casinos. The Sportech operation had a total annual handle of $168 million as of 2015, with $125 million paid out for winning bets. Two greyhound tracks and three jai alai frontons have previously operated in Connecticut. Horse racing and off-track betting were legalized in 1971. Jai alai and dog racing were added the following year. A horse track named Connecticut Park was proposed to