Players must follow the rules interpretations and guidelines for play set forth by the Player Alliance, the head judge, and other tournament officials. Players are expected to behave in a respectful and sportsmanlike manner at all times. Players who argue with the head judge or other tournament officials may be subject to the appropriate penalties. Players are not permitted to waive penalties on behalf of their opponents. The judge must ensure that the appropriate penalty, if any, is imposed.
3.2 Spectator Responsibilities
A spectator of a game is defined as any person other than a judge or an organizer who is not playing in that game. All spectators are expected to remain silent during the course of a game and are not permitted to communicate with players in any way while a game is in progress. Spectators who believe that they have observed rules violations should inform a judge, but they must not interfere with the game. Players have the right to request that any spectator not observe their game. All such requests must be made through a judge, who may grant or deny the request as he or she sees fit. The judge or organizer may choose to prohibit all spectators at any table(s) or round(s) of the tournament.
3.3 Head Judge Responsibilities
Officially sanctioned competition requires the physical presence of a head judge during play to adjudicate disputes, interpret rules, assign penalties, and make other official decisions. The head judge may, with the tournament organizer's agreement, appoint any number of other judges to help in the performance of the head judge's duties and to perform other tasks the head judge may require. The head judge is responsible for reporting all warnings issued at the tournament to the Player Alliance either directly or through the tournament organizer's event report.
The head judge and the tournament organizer can be, but do not have to be, the same individual. The head judge is the final judicial authority at any sanctioned tournament.
All judges have the responsibility to deliver fair, impartial rulings and to assist the head judge and other tournament officials in any area that is required to ensure a smooth tournament. Judges must take action to resolve any rules infraction (whether a violation of the tournament rules or the game rules) they notice or that is brought to their attention.
During a league season, each head judge is also responsible for keeping track of all participants' scores between matches, and tallying them at the end of the league. Any dispute over scoring tallies should be sent to the Organized Play Coordinator, to be checked against the records submitted by the judge.
3.4 Multi-Judge System
The Multi-Judge System may be used at any non-qualifier, non-championship tournament with at least eight participants. Organizers choosing this system must announce its use before the tournament begins and identify three judges as head, secondary and third judge. Organizers should use good judgment when selecting the Multi-Judge System and should ensure its use will not disrupt the event. Tournament organizers may only participate in events they sanction if they are using the Multi-Judge System. These types of events are the only ones in which judges and/or tournament organizers are allowed to participate.
When using the Multi-Judge System, the head judge makes all rulings, except when a decision is needed in a game in which the head judge is participating. If a ruling is needed in a head judge's game, the secondary judge makes the call, except in games in which both the head judge and secondary judge are participating, in which case the third judge is called upon.
The Multi-Judge System may also be employed for multiplayer-format tournaments. If the tournament organizer chooses to do this, he or she must identify a number of judges one higher than the maximum number of participants in a single match. For example, if matches were Four-Player Free For All, then a total of five judges would be needed at the tournament.
