For most New Englanders, the correct pronunciation of jai alai was, like a suntan, something acquired on vacation in Florida. Since early this summer, however, when the sport made its first foray north with the opening of two jai alai frontons, or arenas, in Connecticut, bettors have learned to say hi-lie quite properly—and, for the state, very profitably. Nearly $1 million a day pours through the betting windows at Hartford and Bridgeport from capacity crowds newly hooked on the world's fastest game and the fast buck.
Jai alai, a three-walled version of handball, originated...