Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted February 6, 2003 I am not sure if this belongs here or in the off-topic forum, but I trust Rijicho to move it if necessary ;-) Here in the US, almost every major sport has an active betting community for it. Sometimes it's simple betting ("I'll bet $10 if the Patriots win this Sunday"), sometimes more complicated (ESPN Fantasy Games) with big prizes. Do people in Japan, or elsewhere, bet on Sumo? I know we have a lot of online games, but I mean offline and for real money? Is betting on Sumo legal in Japan? Should it be legal? An interesting topic to discuss until the new Banzuke comes out and I can enter RotoSumo?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doitsuyama 1,259 Posted February 6, 2003 I don't really know about betting on Sumō and if I knew I shouldn't do it looking back at my failure in OddSumo. But it's funny you mention ESPN Fantasy Games. I am a bit of a fan of the NBA, and this year played for the first time the Virtual GM competition which can be reached directly from your link. I have to say, Internet fantasy games based on sport seem to be quite more popular for American sports than for Sumō. While the most popular Sumō games don't attract more than 200 players, more than 200.000 players took part in the Virtual GM. And I'm proud to say that I can hold my own with 47th place right now, considering that I don't know too much of basketball. If there is anybody interested like me, the allstar weekend is coming up, and when the second "half" starts next Tuesday, everybody's score starts with zero again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted February 6, 2003 If I understood correctly, gambling is largely illegal in Japan, which includes placing sports bets for money. I believe from a description by Amanogawa that this was however not always so, and that people had quite a number of betting pools running, based in local restaurants and stores - until the ban was enforced, that is... It was her statement that actually inspired me to start the Sekitori-Oracle game :) Probably one reason why Pachinko is so popular in Japan is, that it is pretty much the only game that has a gambling component to it that is legal, or am I wrong? As far as betting on sumo in the States, my guess would be that you can approach any Vegas or UK/European sports betting agency and ask for odds on just about any sport, and they'll come up with them. I have no idea what is legal where, and so on... but it seems that people from anywhere are placing bets on anything in Vegas and the UK. One perfectly legal way to play for something substantial is, participate in Sekitori-Oracle. There's no money in it, but you can win this very nice trophy: :D Cheers Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted February 6, 2003 And I'm proud to say that I can hold my own with 47th place right now, Wow, very impressive. (Exclamation) The only time I played that game I ended up around 98000th place -- terrible :-0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted February 6, 2003 One perfectly legal way to play for something substantial is, participate in Sekitori-Oracle. There's no money in it, but you can win this very nice trophy: That IS a very nice trophy! I will play the next Sekitori-Oracle! ;-) Back to the gambling issue: is it illegal in Japan on religious reasons? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kotoseiya Yuichi 3 Posted February 6, 2003 As far as betting on sumo in the States, my guess would be that you can approach any Vegas or UK/European sports betting agency and ask for odds on just about any sport, and they'll come up with them. Few years ago I emailed Veikkaus, the Finnish state-owned betting agency and asked them to consider adding ozumo to their list of bettable (Is that a proper word?) sports. The lady who replied surprised me by telling that it had been discussed earlier there. Probably only fleetingly but I was surprised to learn they actually knew such a sport existed. (What is that?) After that nothing's been heard about and I'm not surprised. About the only sport besides predictable ice-hockey, football etc. that has enough interest in a small country like Finland warranting a betting system to be established is Formula 1 and once R Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
furanohana 3 Posted February 7, 2003 OK, I registered too to Virtual GM. I hope I'll be able not to be too pathetic... For thos who wants to join in, I created a weekly paying group named "sumo fans"... Am I thinking too much of sumo ? ;-) Probably (Thumbs up...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hashira 0 Posted February 11, 2003 betting on sports is not illegal in japan i am not sure of exactly what the laws are, but there is a large sports lottery called Toto which I believe began in 2001. Toto allows betting on soccer for sure, and i believe for numerous other sports. i am looking for the homepage and will post it here if i find it, heheh, you might want to look at this japanese toilet company's website by the same name as toto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted February 12, 2003 betting on sports is not illegal in japani am not sure of exactly what the laws are, but there is a large sports lottery called Toto which I believe began in 2001. Toto allows betting on soccer for sure, and i believe for numerous other sports. i am looking for the homepage and will post it here if i find it, heheh, you might want to look at this japanese toilet company's website by the same name as toto Hm, yes... I would guess that this is a state-run enterprise, much similar to what you would find in Austria... there, "TOTO" is a federal entity, just like LOTTO and of course the Casinos, which are all state-run, and as such the only "gambling" institutions that are allowed as such. For those of you who never played TOTO, you get to pick the outcome of soccer matches, 1, 2, or X (team 1 wins, team 2 wins, or x=a tie) - this of course provided some inspiration for the Sekitori-Toto game, where you also get these three options, except the X there means you take a sure half point over gambling on a full point :) Cheers! Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted February 12, 2003 I look forward to playing sekitori-toto for the first time in haru 2003 ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted February 13, 2003 Looking forward to having you! I already noticed you signed up... :) Now, who else is lurking around this forum and not playing yet? (Devilish thought) Cheers Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokimori 0 Posted February 13, 2003 I'm definitely lurking... :-Q Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted February 13, 2003 @ Tokimori, quick question: which games are you alrady playing? Cheers Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokimori 0 Posted February 13, 2003 Quick answer: The rest... :-D No, but BS, ISP, Deutsch sumospiel, Odd sumo, Sumo game, Chain Gang, Rotosumo, UDH, Hoshitori I think that concludes it... I did play Sekitori Oracle once, but it went horribly bad... 3-12 I think... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted February 14, 2003 Aha! So you are already playing many games... You know, my standard "marketing pitch" has always been, if you play other games also, you should definitely play Sekitori-Oracle and Sekitori-Toto FIRST... cause they make you think about each of the Sekitori, and once you make your selections for these two games, it is EASY to make the selections for the other games, cause you already have it all there on one sheet! :) So you can just breeze through the others... ;) Well, would sure love to have you, and any other new players who want to give it a try... Sweden is really painfully underrepresented, especially in Sekitori-Toto... not sure why there don't seem to be many Swedes playing that game, even though they play others... Cheers! Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted February 14, 2003 Sweden is really painfully underrepresented, Until I joined this board, I didn't know sumo was popular in Sweden at all. It's good to see :-P I look forward to sekitori-toto because I like the format and the rules. Until now I've only played the sumo game (and not done too well :-D Although I did go 9-6 in hatsu basho). Starting with Haru, I'm going to add sekitori-toto, rotosumo, and hopefully bench sumo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
