Judge Calls and Appeals

Any role participating in a tournament may call for a judge with a question. In between rounds, tournament participants and personnel can approach judges for questions. This should be done in a calm and orderly manner, particularly if multiple people require a judge’s assistance. During games in a round, players should remain seated and may verbally call out for a judge or physically motion or signal to a judge for assistance. Simply requesting a judge suffices; players do not need to also exclaim the reason for the judge call. Judges should be attentive to requested attention and should attempt to respond in the order in which the calls are made. Judges should also be attentive to player interactions and be proactive in responding to situations that might result or should involve a judge call, even if a call is not explicitly made. All calls for a judge from tournament participants or personnel should be done calmly and respectfully. Spectators may discretely request for a judge to view a particular game or match. Any player or spectator may interrupt a game to call for a judge if:

• A player threatens any tournament attendees

• There is an issue or emergency that requires a tournament official

• A player needs to leave or has left the table for any reason.

In tournaments where there are both appointed Head and Floor judges present, Floor Judges should be the first ones to respond to a judge call. Players cannot request a specific or different judge to attend a judge call and this applies to both the initial call and any appeals in which a Head Judge is involved. Before any penalties are applied from a decision made by the attending judge, the ruling may be appealed. A Head Judge will attend to the call, ask any other investigational questions they feel are warranted, and then will issue a final ruling. If a Head Judge is the first attending judge to a call and their ruling is appealed, they must consult with at least two other judges before issuing a final ruling can be made.