I've skimmed through the threads here in the Tournament Operations, but still couldn't find the recommended/standard ratio for how many floor judges are needed to staff an event.

Let's say the TO is expecting around 100-150 players for an upcoming event, how many floor judges will I need to get for that event?

I've heard/read from several sources before about the ratio, but it varies from 1 judge / 20 players, to 1 judge level / 36 players. Although that's some place to start, but the number is too vague for me..
Since the number of judges I need will vary from a single L1,
(100/36 = 3 Judge levels, minus my own level = 1)
up to 7 more judges (150/20= 7,5 rounded up to 8, minus myself = 7)

From my own estimation, adding 3 L1s should be sufficient.
2 of them can patrol the floor, while the third one will do deck checks with me at the start of each round, and goes patrolling with the others once he's done.

+ the TO has several uncertified staff to do what's supposedly the Paper Team's work (ie: posting pairings and standings, cutting the result slips and distributing them to the tables, etc)

So, what do you guys think?

This is a complicated question. It depends on a number of factors,
including but not limited to:
*) Your skill and experience level
*) The TO's skill and experience level
*) The skill and experience level of the judges involved
*) The player community (some communities are loud and forceful and may
require more judges, others are calmer and meeker)
*) Logistics involved: Are there more than one room? Is the room weirdly
shaped? Do you have a paper cutter, or are you going to have to cut match
slips with scissors?
*) Format: Limited events can require more judges. Older formats can
require more judges.
*) Presence of public events
*) Do you have a dedicated SK? Are they experienced? Do judges need to help
with that?

I prefer 24-32 players per judge, but in some circumstances you can stretch
to 40 players per judge.

Kevin Binswanger

Everything Kevin said is true. I'd also like to point out that a “judge level per X players” method of staffing is probably not effective. As a level 3 judge, I don't want to be responsible for the work of three people or expected to handle a 108 player comp REL event on my own, and many level 1 judges don't have the skills or knowledge to handle competitive REL events no matter how many of them you have on hand.

As an aside, having only a single L1 judge on the floor while deck checks are happening is probably not ideal for a 100-150 player event. In addition to that, don't forget that you should have breaks involved. If you are the head judge, you should probably not include yourself in this estimate, since you don't want to be dedicated to deck checks or some other task if/when appeals start happening.

Agree with the ratios, and other suggestions.  As for Levels per player, Wizards has been telling TOs what to expect for an attendance range (based on historical data), and what level is recommended for Head Judge.  Generally, if you're near 100? 120? players or more, I think an L3 is recommended - and a very good idea, when possible.

One thing that happens, is that TOs (store owners) new to the process read part of that, and think “oh, I just need to find ONE L2+ judge and I'm good to go!”  Please help them understand all the things Kevin and Jess have mentioned - the need for different duties, breaks, etc.

d:^D





On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 12:43 PM, Jess Dunks <forum-9381-8dca@apps.magicjudges.org> wrote:

Everything Kevin said is true. I'd also like to point out that a
“judge level per X players” method of staffing is probably
not effective. As a level 3 judge, I don't want to be responsible for
the work of three people or expected to handle a 108 player comp REL
event on my own, and many level 1 judges don't have the skills or
knowledge to handle competitive REL events no matter how many of them
you have on hand.
>
>As an aside, having only a single L1 judge
on the floor while deck checks are happening is probably not ideal for
a 100-150 player event. In addition to that, don't forget that you
should have breaks involved. If you are the head judge, you should
probably not include yourself in this estimate, since you don't want
to be dedicated to deck checks or some other task if/when appeals
start
happening.
>
>——————————————————————————–
>If
you want to respond to this thread, simply reply to this email. Or
view and respond to this message on the web at http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/post/57842/
>
>
>Disable
all notifications for this topic: http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/noemail/9381/
>Receive
on-site notifications only for this topic: http://apps.magicjudges.org/forum/noemail/9381/?onsite=yes
>
>You
can change your email notification settings at http://apps.magicjudges.org/profiles/edit

Slam-dunk info from Kevin, Jess, and Uncle Scott. I'll add one tiny bit I've learned from experience:

Keep in mind that having multiple L1s who are not experienced at Comp REL or close to L2 will require your other L2+ judges to mentor, be available for consulting, and sometimes (for lack of a better word) supervise. This can detract from your player's experience considerably if they have to wait.

Expect your L2+ judges to handle themselves on the floor and they can grow by mentoring others, but they can't answer calls themselves and help L1s with difficult rulings simultaneously (difficult is of course, subjective to how experienced the L1 is). If you're stretching the numbers thin (1 judge on the floor/50 players), 2 calls at the same time becomes a real issue.

One think I'd like to add is…

Don't forget about breaks. When judges start to go for breaks the available coverage can spread even more thin.

While what Scott said is true for PTQs, WotC doesn't automatically provide
TOs with attendance estimates or information on securing judges for other
events that they run. For PTQs, WotC strongly recommends a L3+ Head Judge
if the estimated attendance is over 120 players.

I'm an L2, and yeah I know I'm not experienced enough for such big events. If it does reach that number, it will be the biggest event I've HJ'd so far. But there's no L3 in Indonesia, so I guess the TO is stuck with me.. hahaha..

Officially, there is only 1 Competetive Rules Enforcement Level. Although smaller tournaments usually have a way more laidback attitude from players, at a 100+ player event, it doesn't matter what the top price is. You need to be prepared for a lot of competetive behavior, players will have travelled longer and prepared better. Although the PT slot adds an extra silver lining of prestige to an event, a non-PTQ event with the same number of players requires virtually the same number of staff (both in numbers and levels).

Another thing to consider: Language skills. PTQs in these parts of the world benefit from French speaking & German speaking judges (next to Dutch, of course). Even though all players in attendance get by with English, sometimes it pays off to overhear what players are saying to their friends in a different language.

When selecting the judges for your event, also consider a “standby judge” alternative. It is a good practice to have some standby judges playing in the tournament (for free) and call for these reinforcements in case that the attendance is bigger than expected.

Anyway, good luck and happy judging!

Usualy, there is what I answer to local TOs contacting me to know how many judges they need for there events (usualy after I hint that they may need more than one):

1 judge for 24 players for optimal customer service and judge education, 1/32 for average customer service and judge education, with 1/40 being the limit. Add 1 judge if the TO doesn't provide an experienced scorekeeper, and 1 judge per extra room used.
Add 20% to the attendance estimation to determine the need of Standby judges, who will judge if we cross thresholds, but otherwise will play for free.

I usualy take care of the staffing for them, so I select the judge levels, and my guidelines are: level 2 judges for Comp REL or to lead a team of 2-3 judges, level 3+ to lead a team of 4+ judges, and for educational purpose (or lack of available judges), a judge who is close to the next level could sometime be counted as if he was already at the next level.

And as usual, it's only guidelines, so you sometime have to adjust to something specific, but I don't want to be too detailed when giving a kick overview to the TO.

thanks for all the inputs guys.
Much appreciated.
:)

Oops.

Where is that reference?

Thanks!

-M.

There is usually guidelines attached to PTQ/Premier event solicitations that are sent to TOs that roughly outline how many judges (and what level) you should staff for events with X players.

I'll disagree with Kevin for eternal events needing more staff. Especially in the northeast, everyone has been playing forever, and everyone knows everyone so its infrequent that problems crop up. The exception is more security may be needed.