I've searched through forum with no results about this so sorry if this topic is recurrent.

IPG 4.6.Unsporting Conduct — Theft of Tournament Material says about four cases will fall into it.

This speaks about player's properties and product necessary to complete the tournament, but i believe it doesn't define what is Tournament Material clearly.
We can consider tournament material:
- On player's side: player's cards (and deck), sleeves, life counters, dices, even pen?, each thing any player brings to participate at the event.
Example: Wow! this pen is awesome, i'll get it …. and few rounds after AP steals it

- On Tournament Organizer's side this would be: table number, entry slips, standings, pairings… tournament prizes?, any thing provided by organizer to make event possible
Example: You're judging a top8 and you post Standings visible to players to they can know who decides first, and first to be eliminated removes this standings as a souvenir.

Another question is: Prizes are “Tournament material”?

I'm trying to understand the whole philosophy about this infraction, but maybe i expect too much from it.

Edited Jose Miguel Sanchez Navarro (March 14, 2016 09:52:50 AM)

I'd say that if you find yourself wondering “this thing that they just stole; is it really tournament material?”, it's probably fine to issue a USC-Theft. :)

I believe the definition of “theft of tournament material” is broad by design so you can include anything that you/your TO deems necessary for the tournament.

The IPG says this about theft of “Non-tournament Material”

Other instances of theft not involving tournament materials are the responsibility of the Tournament Organizer, though judges are encouraged to help in any way possible.

And the Annotated IPG explains this as follows:

This sentence is a little tricky. What happens if a player steals a bag of trade binders, but not a player’s deck? Technically, this is not actually Theft of Tournament Material, although the outcome (the removal of the player from your event) has more-or-less the same consequences. If theft is brought to a judge’s attention, the judge should involve the Tournament Organizer. They will deal with removing the individual from the store, or handling police involvement. In such a case, this information still really ought to be reported to the Investigations Committee through that handy-dandy “Investigations” tab in the Judge Center. For all intents and purposes, a player stealing a bag should be handled in the same way as one who has committed this infraction.

Furthermore, judges are not law enforcement — the term “any way possible” should not include detaining the offender, tarring-and-feathering him, or leaving him tied up in the parking lot of the Gotham City Policy Department. Let’s leave the Vigilante Justice to the superheroes.

Don't overthink this - if a theft occurs, Judges should cooperate, but it's a police matter, first & foremost. If the theft included tournament materials - again, don't stretch here! - enter the USC-Theft infraction, and (like other DQs), enter an Investigation.

If it's not tournament material, then let the authorities handle it. It's not a judge matter.

d:^D