Thanks to a gentleman named Ralph, who gave me the tip (and who made sure to tell me he's from Brooklyn), I won the first bet I ever placed on a simulcast horse race. I was sitting next to him at the Sports Bar on the second floor of Dania Jai-Alai at 301 E. Dania Beach Blvd. in, believe it or not, Dania Beach.

I won a whopping $3 on a $2 bet, and I used my profits to procure a diet Coke. If it had been Wednesday, I could have bought a round of beers for Ralph and myself and also left a buck for the bartender because drafts are only $1 all day. Drafts are also a dollar and drinks half price during the daily 5-7 p.m. happy hour.

The oak bar counter is polished to a shine, and Nikki Snyder is a SoBe-suave bartender who's slick with the Gen Xers and remarkably sweet to the baby boomers and retirees. TVs at the bar are tuned to horse and dog racing and simulcast jai-alai out of Miami.

To kill time between betting opportunities, play pool on one of the three professional grade tables, but don't fret if your shot is a little off. Concentration is hard with with the constant clicking of poker chips from the adjacent card tables or the zealous crowd watching the live jai-alai matches.

No limit Texas hold 'em games are played from noon until midnight on Mondays through Thursdays and until 2 a.m on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Live jai-alai is featured at 7 every night and also at noon on Tuesdays and Saturdays (1 p.m. on Sunday as well). Click on www.dania-jai-alai.com for a full explanation of the sport, but from what I gather, it involves a bunch of guys with baskets tied to their hands, running around the court trying not to get killed by a rock-hard ball hurtling through space at warp speed.

If you need a break from the bar scene, and you're also bored by the dinner-and-a-movie option, Dania Jai-Alai is the perfect answer to the ``What should we do tonight?'' question. The crowd is friendly, the drinks are cheap and there's a chance -- albeit not a great one -- that you'll walk out with more money in your pocket than you came in with.

If Lady Luck is on your side, quit while you're ahead and celebrate at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant in Dania Beach at 128 S. Federal Hwy. Jaxson's, which recently celebrated its 53rd year in business, is open until 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends. This feel-good, old timey ice cream shop is filled with knickknacks from yesteryear, with walls covered with old license plates.

Here's the inside scoop: You can't go wrong with the Double Chocolate Chip, Death by Chocolate and Chewy Fudge trifecta.

UPCOMING

The ever-so-funky Funkette plays at 8 p.m. Friday at Murphy's Law Irish Pub at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. No cover.

Days of the New, Stonefox and Seasons Lost take to the stage at the Culture Room on Saturday. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $15.

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