End of an era
The doors will close Oct. 28 on the Ocala Jai Lai Fronton in Orange Lake, more recently known as Ocala Gainesville Poker and Jai Alai.
The Ocala Jai-Alai building is shown in Orange Lake, Fla. on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
Ocala Gainesville Poker and Jai Alai, which has been operating in the Ocala Jai Alai Fronton, a longtime landmark in Orange Lake, about 15 miles north of Ocala, will cease operations Saturday, Oct. 28. The chips used in gaming there will not be valid after that date.
County records indicate the property was transferred from Lake Fron, Inc. to Ocala Breeders’ Sales Real Estate Holdings, LLC, in 2016.
A message on the Ocala Gainesville Poker website invites patrons to visit Ocala Bets, is set to open soon at 1781 SW 60th Ave., east of the Ocala International Airport. The new gaming room will offer “poker Vegas-style games and more,” with 35 card tables, according to ocala.bets.com. Ocala Breeders’ Sales’ intertrack wagering is also in the Southwest 60th Avenue complex.
The sign for the new Ocala Bets is shown across the street from Ocala International Airport at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company on Southwest 60th Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
According to jai-alai.info, the Ocala fronton, at 4601 W. County Road 318, Orange Lake, was opened in 1973 “by the operators of the Miami fronton as a branch office and was one of 15 to 20 frontons doing business in the United States at that time.”
The shuttering of operations at the fronton, which county record state covers 62,238-square-feet, is the end of an era, according to Ginny Britton, who worked there from 1982 to 1987 and 1992 until 2007.
Britton recalls visiting the fronton with her grandmother in the late 1970s. She said a jai alai player from Miami known as “Joey” was a sensation in the earlier days of the fronton and that the live play was “seasonal.”
“It was a hot spot,” Britton said, describing a “reservations only” restaurant in the building, regular concerts, wresting events and .50 cent beers in later years which attracted a big crowd.
She also remembered the local high school graduations that were held at the facility.
Then, Britton said, “Lotto came along.”
Dale Popp, 67, worked at the fronton from around 1973 until 2007 and held positions from “ticket puncher” to manager. He also became a jai alai player, playing at a number of frontons in the region under his first name. Popp recalled “packed crowds” at the local fronton to watch live jai alai, a sport he calls “beautiful (and) fascinating.” Popp said by 2007 he was transferred by OBS to the intertrack wagering operation, where he remained until 2012. He said by 2007 at the fronton, the card room had become the “main focus” of the business.
“Jai alai had evolved into a sideshow,” he said. “It’s a shame it’s gone.”
Officials with Ocala Breeders’ Sales did not respond to requests for comment.
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