As a TO and Judge I feel that there's a very big difference on if you're just there as a judge taking some calls now and then while you're playing, and if you're there's as a judge doing scorekeeping, taking results, making draft pods, handing out draft products and prizes and all of that stuff. Most judges in Norway does all of the above, and the compensation for the chain of LGS' in Norway that has 75% of the stores in Norway is:
- FNM 17,5 dollar giftcard + free entry.
- Prereleases 18 boosters + free entry.

I judge for a store in a 10k inhabitant city with a second play location in the neighboring city with 20k inhabitants. We have 8-16 persons for FNMS, so for FNMs we get nothing directly. For prereleases we play for free, and a few times a year we get something from the store, and always the newest FTV when it arrives.

I usually don't receive anything for judging a small FNM or Magic Day of about 16 players, since there aren't many calls. As someone stated above, I don't judge for the compensation; I do it for the Magic community. When I started judging, I didn't even know about compensation! That said, at a good-size 64-player Prerelease, I'm on my feet for about 8 hours straight, answering questions, watching matches, applying JAR and MTR policy, and correcting players on illegal actions. The store owner/TO is kind enough to let me have a snack, a drink, and either e Prerelease pack or in-store credit equivalent. He is grateful because he can man the WER and the cash register, sell additional Magic product or other things the hobby store sells, instead of answering judge calls. He gets to concentrate on his business, while I concentrate on the tournament. And for that, he's grateful.

I've learned that in some (or all?) United States, if you are going to get paid for judging, there are tax things to worry about, a form to fill out, and I think you have to grab a W-2 by the end of the year and submit that to the IRS if it's above a certain amount. But I'm no tax expert, so don't quote me!

In-store credit, discounts, food, and Magic product are probably the best, cleanest ideas for Comp. The levels of Comp should be a healthy, happy agreement between the store owner/TO and the judge(s). Maybe it's dependent on player count; maybe it's dependent on busy-ness. Maybe it's dependent on whether you play in the event or not. Maybe it's dependent on the weather outside.

“Roj”

The joker said “If your good at something never do it for free.”

I want to point out that: free =/= no compensation. There are many things that have little to no cost for the store that they will be happy to use as compensation for judges. You just have to talk with them and see what they can provide. Snacks, drinks, free entry, first dibs on cool stuff, discount on cool stuff…..

At my store first access to the foreign stuff is well worth it to some judges.

Having a judge in the room adds value to the player experience even if you never take a judge call. All judges are valuable and should be rewarded for the hard work they do at events. Sometimes you don't do much, other times your event gets out of hand and you have to step up your game. Every time you walk into the store for an event you are building a better community. There are so many little things that I see judges do while they are running events that they think is not worth anything. Everything has value. Don't sell yourself short.

My local LGS usually handles the scorekeeping and I help run the event smoother by being the visible judge during regular events. I don't get paid at all but I have access to free drinks and snacks at all times. They do value certified judges during competitive events and judges get paid around the going local rate. 



Sashi C Loco (Emcee/Host/BroadcastDJ/HipHopArtiste)

On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 1:31 AM, Roger Dunn
<forum-21547-aa51@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

Playing FNM is free for me, for draft I hand in my draft deck at the end of the event. Drinks and snacks are free during these events (that is if you dont abuse it). During FNM i only got a few calls, event size between 12- 26 players.

For Pre-releases, A box for the weekend (3 events) incl, drinks and snacks. And if i want to play it would be free

Originally posted by Bryan Prillaman:

I will add one thing: get some sort of compensation. Free drinks, free entry, packs, ability to buy FTV sets at MSRP.

This. I am the only judge in my local area and I handle all the FNMs at my store. Every now and then I pay for FNM entry and I generally get FTVs at cost or MSRP - if I ask for it. For pre-releases and such, free entry is enough for me. I dont usually get anything more than that at regular.

As the TO at my store is only just getting into Magic himself, I tend to MC and HJ our FNMs. I don't pay entry for Standard FNMs, but pay for drafts when they are run.

Prereleases, we negotiated that the HJ would MC the event and get free entry and lunch as a result - I believe this is commensurate with the amount of effort invested. Comp REL has a much higher degree of expertise required, and so I feel that a smaller compensation for the prerelease is justified.
Game Day is about a fatpack's value, similar in cost to our prerelease.