From the 2007-2008 Pokémon Organized Play Tournament Rules (Rules effective: 9/01/2007)
Section 5.4.1. Appeals to the Head Judge
A player may appeal any ruling made by a judge to the Head Judge of the
event. Should a player appeal a ruling, the Head Judge must hear from all
parties involved, including both players and the judge that issued the
original ruling, before making a final ruling. The Head Judge is the final
authority on all card rulings and tournament rules interpretations for that
event.
Simply put - the Head Judge is the Last Word when it comes to rulings. Doesn't matter if they're wrong or right. Doesn't matter if YOU KNOW they are wrong or right.
At the ACTUAL TIME of the event, there is NOTHING that can be done past appealing to the Head Judge. And it's that way for a reason, to preserve the authority of the Head Judge for all decisions rendered during that event. Once you institute a way to begin second-guessing the Head Judge on one issue, you open the door for EVERY LITTLE THING to be rules-lawyered to death and completely stop down Organized Play.
S.
This is the reason I am posting this. Turns out thet the Head judge is implementing rules that are not in the Floor rules. Why should I as a plyer be forced to follow silly rules that are not addressed by PUI?
Could I ask the head judge to show me IN WRITING (such as floor rules or penalty guidlines) prior to making his/her final decision?
It seems as if there are a lot of HEAD judges, that will support the lower judges call, NO MATTER WHAT. There needs to be more room for correcting errors. A head Judge cant assume that the other judge made the correct ruling. It becomes a serious issue of power. Who has the biggest puffed out chest wins. Usually its the head judge as you stated.
Please dont misunderstand me.... There are MANY MANY more EXCELLENT judges than the few I am questioning. However, I , as a player, have the right to get my point across, and asking them to show me proof should not be an issue.
I will give you an example, using myself as as the player....
It is my opponents turn... He attacks my Ho-oh with gallade. He clearly states that he will be turning over 2 prizes for the KO. I ask him.... Are you sure 2 prizes? He again states Yes, then proceeds to take the prize. Now as you all know Ho-Oh is resistant to fighting and 2 prizes would not be enough to KO my active. He was 10 short. So I call the Judge, the Judge ruled that I was being a rules monger and gave me a prize penalty for unsportsmanship conduct. Not only that but the judge allowed him to turn another prize for the KO. The judge did not even give me an oppritunity to speak. Even though I called the Judge My opponent spilled his case prior to me thus making me look like I was the one to blame.
The way I see it, My opponent made a mistake. He should not get the oppritunity to reverse that sort of play. He clearly stated that he was going to turn over 2 prizes. You should not be rewarded for MISPLAYS! It should not have been a reversable action as it involved his attack phase. Turn over, NO KO! Period...
Instead, the head judge gives me a Warning and a prize penalty and threatens to THROW ME OUT OF HIS PLACE if i continue to question him. Clearly an abuse of power.
This actually happened, not to me, but it did happen. I told this player to leave some serious feedback about this tournament. I hope he took my advise and wrote the letter to PUI regarding how poorly the tournament was run. Keep in mind this is a NEW player to the game and this was his FIRST official sponsored event. What do you think this person thinks of our game now?
Jimmy