Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be
Mark Buckton
Sakai World Sumo Champs – not all about winning
Las Vegas Koen
Joe Kuroda
Our man reports from the fight capital of the world
Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesterday with Kotozakura – our man for October
Heya Peek
John Gunning
John’s early morning dash to Azumazeki-beya & report on TKOTU
SFM Interview
Katrina Watts sits down with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss amateur sumo
Photo Bonanza
SFM’s best yet – Aki Basho/ Las Vegas / Amateur World Champs / Azumazeki-beya visit – seen nowhere else
Aki Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Aki Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the tournament while ‘gem’ of the basho takes a break
Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila returns to cover lower division ups and downs
Kyushu Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Kyushu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out
Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Discovers and explains amasumo & ozumo variations
Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko once again walks us through his chosen kimarite
Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo
Online Gaming
Zenjimoto of ‘game fame’ covers some of the very best sumo games around – his own!
Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today
Fan Debate
Is the limit on foreign rikishi fair? See what our debaters had to say
SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh
In the first of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and chuckle at Benny Loh’s offerings
Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? Gernobono tells all
Readers’ Letters
See what SFM readers had to say since our last issue
Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
Sekitori Sumogames
by Maximilian Suchy aka Zenjimoto
In Sekitori-Oracle, you submit your picks BEFORE the basho begins, guessing the win/loss records you expect each rikishi to have at the end of the tournament (for example, Asashoryu 14-1, Takamisakari, 8-7, etc.). Depending on how close you are to the actual outcome, you will score points. Oracle is about as no-nonsense as it gets – no gimmicks, no excuses, just good straight sumo gaming at its best – and it’s a great game to play before you start thinking about all the other sumo games out there, because you will have already thought about ALL the sekitori after you are done making your selections for Oracle. Now, that really makes playing the other games quicker and more overseeable. And the best part is, you get to win a real trophy,
Next Home
Each issue we ask the creators
from the online sumo gaming world
to tell us just what makes their games tick.
Enjoy.
Three great games no sumo fan should miss are the Sekitori-
Games franchise. Don’t be confused between Sekitori-Toto, Sekitori-Oracle, and Sekitori-Quadrumvirate. They all start with “Sekitori-”, but are all three different games, and all well worthwhile playing.
The objective of Sekitori-Toto and Sekitori-Oracle is to try to correctly predict the outcome of all bouts involving the 70 sekitori at the next basho.
Sekitori-Toto is played DURING the basho. Quite frankly, its origins came from my own frustrations playing the popular “Sumo Game” from Japan-guide.com. I did OK in picking winners, but usually selected the wrong ones on my 10-rikishi squad. I heard myself sighing, “If there was a game where all I needed was to do pretty well in picking a winner for EVERY bout, I would be OK!” That’s how the idea for Sekitori-Toto emerged, and it’s exactly what you do: pick a
winner in each of the 30-plus bouts involving sekitori. As long as you do better than half of all players, you win for the day! Toto has a gimmick – if you are not sure who will win a bout, you can pick “X” for a guaranteed half point! Picking “X” is thus a controversial and sneered-at, albeit statistically ineffective technique, which has already caused much discussion. Will you take the high road and remain in the “Honorable Guild of Teetotalers” who never pick “X”, or perhaps succumb to the temptation of not wrecking your nerves when it comes to picking a close bout, and reaching into the “X-box” a few times? Oh, the intrigue! Sekitori-Toto has been called “The Game With No Excuses”. It’s a fitting moniker for a game in which you have to pick every bout of every sekitori each day of the Basho!
This game is Canadian sumo games maven Kofuji’s automation masterpiece and has been one of the most popular games around since its
