King’s Court jai alai and poker room recently opened in Florida City, located between south Miami and the Florida Keys. Noting a portion of a 1980 law, Hialeah Park owner John Brunetti Sr. was able to receive an additional parimutuel permit to build a 150-seat jai-alai court and six-table poker room. Brunetti paid .7 million for the 38 acres located across from the Florida Keys Outlet Mall.
King’s Court poker room will be managed by Hialeah Tournament Director
Aaron Roiter. He stated he’s “beyond excited,” since opportunities to open a poker room from the ground up are rare. The only poker room in a 35-mile radius, King’s Court expects to attract patrons from Homestead and Kendall and Miccosukee Resort & Gaming players.
Manufactured in Markina on the Spain-France border, the jai-alai walls are made of extra-sturdy tempered glass that can absorb the players’ pelota flings of more than 100 miles an hour. Each of the 88 glass panels comprising the main, back and side jai-alai walls weighs 670 pounds. “It’s impossible to break. A Formula One driver couldn’t go through it,” said Gonzalo Vivanco of JaiAlaiCourts.com.
The next jai-alai matches at King’s Court will be held at 12:00 p.m., Friday, June 16 and Sunday, June 18, then noon and 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays in July. The facility can offer simulcasting after 58 jai-alai matches.
Another Florida poker room has a new home. The ballroom at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino at Hollywood recently was transformed into the property’s new 36-table poker room, which reopened on June 1, officials announced. The change is part of the casino’s ongoing expansion project, which also includes a new nightclub and restaurant.
The poker room was relocated in 2008 when the casino started offering blackjack.
In the past, the ballroom frequently was the site of major poker tournament events. Officials said the move will offer players easy access to gaming and is more conveniently located to the Seminole Way parking garage.
