It had been criticized particularly by those in the jai alai community for holding low quality jai alai matches with non-professional players. The casino generated profit through other means, such as poker. Previously the fronton would have ten to twelve players, but by 2014, they used the same two non-professional players, former University of Florida football players Chris Doering and Judd Davis. The jai alai season generally was in February and March. They held forty performances (twenty matinee and twenty night performances) of eight games each to fulfill its legal requirements, but the performances were done behind curtains so as not to distract the poker tables. ĭue to the decline in popularity of jai alai, Ocala Gainesville Poker along with other frontons in Florida held matches as few as thirty days a year to satisfy the requirement to maintain its gambling license.
However, jai alai declined in popularity, so in 2008 the name was changed to Ocala Poker & Jai Alai with the focus shifted to poker. At one time, the jai alai performances could attract about 2,000 people. The institution was first established in 1973 as Ocala Jai-alai, which was a branch office of the Miami fronton.
