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| Dear reader, the fact that you've found this Web site tells me that you love sumo. If you are seeking ways to enhance your sumo experience, you might consider taking part in one or more of the many Internet-based sumo games where you predict sumo-related events. The International sumo community is quite a playful bunch, and so there are a few dozen games out there. All these games are free to play and non-commercial, created by enthusiastic sumo gamers. This Web page is dedicated to 20 of the most popular and prestigious sumo games. All of them are worth playing, but in order to help you with a selection of games, I have tried to provide a very brief description of each of them. Generally, the games are put into two categories: in a daily game, players are expected to play on each day of a tournament (basho), and they have to predict the outcomes of the next day in sumo. In contrast, for a pre-basho game the players make their predictions before the tournament, and then can see over the basho how these predictions unfold. Within each category, I have subjectively ordered the games in terms of accessibility (amount of time needed for preparation; knowledge about Juryo required; potential language issues). DAILY GAMES  It can't get any simpler than that. The game admin selects one bout for the next day (typically a bout that's hard to predict). As the player, you predict the outcome of that bout. If your prediction is right, you get a win, if your prediction is wrong, you get a loss. Great game for beginners! And as it involves more luck than most other games, even inexperienced players have a good chance to excel. Direct link to ISP  Before Day 1, you pick one wrestler who you think is going to win on Day 1 (Yokozuna and Ozeki are not eligible for picking). If the rikishi wins, you stay in the game. If the rikishi loses, you are out for this tournament. Winner of the game is the player who survived for the longest time. Very simple game - and it's often decided after only eight days of the tournament. Direct link to Chain Gang  This is one of only two games where you are actually pitted against another player each day. You pick 10 Makuuchi rikishi that you think are likely to win on the next day, and sort these from "most likely" to "least likely". You get 1 point for each winner. If you score more points than your opponent, you win the bout. In case of tied points, the sorted lists of both players are compared place by place (like in a penalty shootout), until a winner can be determined. Direct link to Sumo Game  This is one of only two games where you are actually pitted against another player each day. In Bench Sumo, you pick a team of 10 Makuuchi wrestlers before the tournament starts. This is the team that you have to work with throughout the basho. Before each day, you arrange the rikishi in your team from "most likely to win" to "least likely to win". You get a maximum of 14 points when the top 5 rikishi of your daily line-up are all victorious. If you score more points than your opponent, you win the bout. In case of a tie, the success of your bottom 5 rikishi (your "bench") comes into play. This game is unique as it has successfully built a community. You do not only get the naked results, but bout comments, friendly banter, nice side competitions, and tons of extra stuff on a separate mailing list. Direct link to Bench Sumo Direct link to the Bench Sumo Mailing List  On each day, you have to pick one rikishi with a negative record who is going to win, and one rikishi with a positive record who is going to lose on the next day. If both rikishi score as predicted, you receive a win. This game will benefit from having some knowledge about Juryo, as both Makuuchi and Juryo wrestlers are eligible. Direct link to Turn the Tide  Based on a formula, winning odds for each bout in Makuuchi are computed. Players can pick up to six winners for the next day. If all your picks win, you win points based on the odds (you can make incredible gambles by predicting wins of an outsider). However, if only one of your predictions doesn't materialize, the entire bet is off and you lose a small number of points (your ante). Direct link to Odd Sumo  In this game, you predict the winners of all 30-35 bouts in Juryo and Makuuchi for the next day (you can also make an "X" pick if you are undecided). Every correct prediction gives you a point (an X pick gives you half a point). The 50% of players with the highest points scores for a day receive a win, the other 50% of players get a loss. Knowledge about Juryo is clearly advantageous here. Direct link to Sekitori-Toto  This game is somewhat similar to ISP. However, while in ISP the game admin selects only one tough bout to pick from, the daily Tippspiel gyoji selects six tricky bouts. Players list their five predicted winners from 5 to 0 for a maximum score of 15 points per day. Participation requires registration on the German sumo forum. Direct link to Deutsches Sumo-Tipspiel  Players have to pick 4 rikishi a day (from Juryo and/or Makuuchi). If at least three of them are victorious, this is counted as a win. The catch: you can pick each rikishi only once during the basho, so you have to play very tactically. If you pick only "sure winners" from early on, you might run out of good candidates later in the basho. You definitely need some Juryo knowledge for this game. Direct link to Sekitori-Quadrumvirate PRE-BASHO GAMES  Makuuchi and Juryo wrestlers are pre-sorted into eleven different categories. You pick one rikishi per category. When a rikishi of your team wins, you get between 3 and 24 points (depending on the rank of the defeated rikishi). Though the game also requires picking Juryo wrestlers, it is not a big deal if you have little Juryo expertise - due to the game dynamics, about 85% of all your points will depend on the Makuuchi picks that you've made. Direct link to RotoSumo  Players pick 13 Makuuchi wrestlers (no restrictions) and put them in an order from 13 to 1. Each win of your 13-point rikishi gives you 13 points etc.. You get extra points for various events: if a rikishi gets a kin-boshi or gin-boshi; wins a sansho; gets a kachi-koshi; wins the yusho). You lose extra points if a rikishi gets a make-koshi. Direct link to Hoshitori Game  Players pick 13 Makuuchi wrestlers (no restrictions) and assign them points ranging from 6 to 1 (one 6-pointer, two 5-pointers, etc.). The rub: you get 6 points if your 6-point rikishi *loses*! So you have to pick wrestlers who are likely to have a rough tournament. Gambling on rikishi who will not finish the tournament can pay off big time here! Direct link to UDH  This highly unique game is played after the basho (which of course, is also before the basho). The goal is to predict the ranks and names on the next ranking sheet (banzuke). You get 2 points if you have the rank and the side (East/West) of a rikishi correct; 1 point for having the rank correct. Direct link to Guess the Banzuke  As a player, you pick 10 Maegashira wrestlers and sort them from 10 to 1. If your 10-pointer wins, you get 10 points etc.. Extra points are awarded for kinboshi and ginboshi. Direct link to Paper Oyakata Game  Players pick nine Maegashira wrestlers and arrange them in a 3 x 3 grid. Every win by one of your rikishi gets you a point. Extra points are gained for kinboshi, ginboshi, and when you have rows, columns, or diagonals of victorious rikishi in your 3 x 3 grid. Direct link to Ozumo Bingo Game  Each basho, a player can spend 1000 fictitious yen to "buy" up to 10 sumo wrestlers from Makuuchi (with better wrestlers of course being much more expensive), and assign them scores from 10 points, 9 points etc.. A win by your 10-pointer nets 10 points to your tally. Extra points are awarded for kin-boshi, gin-boshi, getting a yusho, a jun-yusho, a sansho, or a kachi-koshi. As your allotted money is so limited, you have to make a decision between having a small team of very expensive wrestlers, or a larger team of "cheap" wrestlers and hoping that one of them will have a breakout basho. Direct link to Salarycap Sumo  Just as Sekitori-Toto can be said to be the most basic among daily games (predict all bout outcomes), Sekitori-Oracle can be said to be the most basic among pre-basho games. You have to predict the final records of all Makuuchi and Juryo rikishi who didn't go kyujo before the basho. If you predict an 8-7 for a wrestler who actually ends up 8-7, you will get 10 points; if he ends up 9-6 or 7-8 (1 off), you will get 9 points etc.. Knowledge about Juryo is very helpful for this game. Direct link to Sekitori-Oracle  This game mostly focuses on the Juryo division. You have to pick eight Juryo rikishi who you believe to be successful in the next basho, and predict the eventual Juryo yusho winner. Moreover, from a choice of eight eligible rikishi you have to pick one who will have a tough time in lower Makuuchi, one former Juryo who will excel in Makushita, and a future hope who will excel in Makushita. Direct link to Juryo Game  In this survey-type game, you have to predict the Makuuchi yusho winner; four rikishi from sekiwake and below who will have a lot of wins; and three rikishi from sekiwake and below who will have very few wins. Moreover, you have to predict certain bout outcomes in advance, and answer questions about events that may or may not happen during the basho. Direct link to Norizo Cup Each of the 20 games above has its own records and rankings. The goal of the Superbanzuke is to compile data from those 20 games in order to identify the best sumo gamers out there. The Superbanzuke universe consists of three constituents: The Superbanzuke Ranking lists players who have high ranks in many of the 20 individual Superbanzuke games. As soon as a player is ranked among the 42 in any of the 20 Superbanzuke games, s/he will also be ranked on the corresponding Superbanzuke ranking. The 42nd in a game gets 1 base point, the 41st gets 2 base points, and so on (with extra points for the top-ranked players). Base points are then multiplied with a game factor (the more people will play the game, the higher the game factor). The Superbanzuke Ranking is updated every two months before the basho (as soon as the 20 individual game banzuke went public). Direct link to the latest SB Ranking While the SB Ranking honors stability and longevity (playing on a high level for a long time), the SB Masters honor excellence in a given basho. For each of the 20 individual Superbanzuke games, a total of 66 points are awarded: 15 points for the yusho winner, 12 points for second place, 10 points for third place, 8 points for 4th place, 6 points for 5th place, 5 points for 6th place… down to 1 point for 10th place (points will be distributed in case of ties). The player with the highest amount of points in a basho is awarded with the symbolic "Green Mawashi". Sansho winners are also awarded. Direct link to the latest SB Masters results The Masters points are accumulated over a calendar year in order to determine the best sumo gamer (World Champion) of the year. The winner gets a real trophy! Direct link to the current World Championship Standings |