Ruling Stalling

[Ophie]

I have a question about stalling in tournament matches: I see that it's against the rules (which is good), but how is it enforced? Are you supposed to call a judge as soon as you suspect the opponent may be stalling so they can come over and watch to make sure it doesn't happen? There's no way to prove that someone stalled once too much time has passed, since the damage has already been done, and it's probably difficult to tell if someone is intentionally stalling or just taking a long time to think things through.

I'm asking this because during the Pasadena Regionals, my sister went up against this guy who managed to take the first Prize, and from that point on, he played as slowly as possible to keep her from making much progress while my sister tried to play as quickly as possible to make up for lost time. The pressure got to her and she ended up losing the match when time was called. They signed the slip, he immediately got up, and he disappeared into the crowds. She didn't want to start trouble, so she chose not to call on the judges. (If it's possible to pinpoint this precisely, this was during the round where the baseball caps were given out.)

So it got me wondering: If someone happens to be stalling, what should the other player do? The staller could simply speed his/her game up to hide that fact. I take it that this is not a common practice, since I don't hear this being brought up often in discussions about tournaments.

 

[Chairman Kaga]

I have a question about stalling in tournament matches: I see that it's against the rules (which is good), but how is it enforced?

Active judging, combined with players policing each other (read: calling judges when they observe an opponent trying to stall).

Thinking about the next move is not necessarily stalling (unless they're taking an inordinate amount of time), but stuff like endless shuffling or repeated searching of a deck or discard is pretty obvious and should be given an immediate time extension. At the very least, a judge should be standing over the potential staller's shoulder and kindly request that they pick up the pace.

Are you supposed to call a judge as soon as you suspect the opponent may be stalling so they can come over and watch to make sure it doesn't happen?

Yes, yes, for the love of all that is good and sweet in Odin's beard, a thousand times YES.

Judges are far more effective at maintaining the integrity of the game when players are willing to point out issues. Otherwise, you have to hope that a judge is looking your way at the exact moment something happens. And when they're watching over 50 tables, like I was at Regionals -- Never. Gonna. Happen. I need to see hands, people.

She didn't want to start trouble, so she chose not to call on the judges.

Fail.

There was a thread on the POP forums not too long ago, where a Regionals player observed blatant, outright cheating -- and did not call a judge. *facepalm*

I will quote Dave Schwimmer (head honcho of Pokemon Organized Play):

Why, why, WHY, would you NOT report a suspected issue of cheating immediately after you saw it?

Why indeed.

Even if they're not "caught in the act", a good team of judges will take note of the player and start watching that player's matches more carefully.

So it got me wondering: If someone happens to be stalling, what should the other player do?

Call a judge Seriously, like I said above, good judges will start watching him once the complaint is lodged. If he's stalling, time extensions should be given.

 

[Devastator]

^^ he is 100% right. i had an opponent yesterday who continually looked at my discard pile and then on numerous occassions counted their deck. why, who knows. it was pretty funny though, it stopped almost immediatly after i called the judge over. i mean everyone needs time to make sure they play without rushing but don't feel guilty if you think someone is stalling and you call the judge over. thats why they are there and it could be the difference between you winning and losing

 

[MANAPHY=)]

lets just put it if your opp. takes more than 5 min or asks to look at hisor hers deck or yours more than 1 time and goes for looking at dicard and hand there definetly stalling.and report it.

 

[Ophie]

I see. I should tell her about that then, since this guy felt mighty suspicious. My match ended before time was up, and when I looked around to find her after time was called, I overheard the guy talking about watching for Special Conditions and such (he talks really loudly), then he got up and disappeared before I was told he was stalling.

According to her, it wasn't pointlessly shuffling decks or looking through discard piles or anything. He just sat, stared, and did all of his actions extremely slowly and listlessly (except talking). He would begin to do something, like play a card, then change his mind and stare at something for a while longer. Also according to her, Special Conditions only came up for one turn, leading me to believe that speech he made was solely to pride himself.

 

[MANAPHY=)]

well if this occured in the pre rel. then it shoudnt matter but in official tournaments yes.

 

[Chairman Kaga]

According to her, it wasn't pointlessly shuffling decks or looking through discard piles or anything. He just sat, stared, and did all of his actions extremely slowly and listlessly (except talking). He would begin to do something, like play a card, then change his mind and stare at something for a while longer.

That's when the judge should have been called. Even if he's not doing something blatant, even if he's not doing it intentionally, it's perfectly valid for a judge to say "I'm not satisfied with the pace of this game...pick it up". Failure to do so brings the time extensions into play.

 

[BM1014]

What happens if we only have 2 judges, and they can't check every table for stallers?

 

[Chairman Kaga]

What's stopping them?

 

[Raichu/Leafeon]

If someone is stalling call "JUDGE!" then ask a judge to watch the game to make sure they don't stall and if it happens again then it is a prize card.

That's how it happened at my State's.