What is cheating?

Cheat – to violate rules or regulations

The above definition of cheating has been provided to allow for a basis of common understanding of the topic this article is about. For the purposes of this blog, we are specifically referencing the L5R ccg and the floor rules associated with tournament-level play. While we will be using these as examples, the concepts have a broader range of applications, but it should always be understood that the intended context is this game specifically.

What is cheating?

As the definition at the beginning of the article succinctly states, cheating is violating the rules or regulations. In the case of L5R and its associated tournament-level play, cheating can run the range from violating the rules in the rulebook to violating the tournament floor rules.

Cheating can take almost any form, and sometimes is not able to be pinned down to a strict definition or example. In fact, it is so unlikely that every possible manner of cheating would be covered in a rule set that the system in place leaves that discretion up to the judges of the event and, ultimately, the tournament organizer.

I will take a detour here to emphasize how important it is that everyone understands the role of a judge at an event. The judge is not just a figurehead to answer card interaction questions and to inform players how much time is left in the round. The judge is also there to make judgment calls. If you think you are being cheated in some way, call a judge. Be reasonable, but call a judge if you are not sure. Better to be safe than sorry.

We will cover types of cheating and specific methods of cheating to watch for in future segments, but for now I will focus on calling a judge if you feel that your opponent is cheating or if you are uncertain as to whether your opponent is cheating or not. Here are the steps you should take should you feel you need a judge to arbitrate a possible cheating situation:

1 – Raise your hand and call out ‘Judge!’ in a clear and concise voice.
2 – If a judge is not coming to your table within a minute or so, stand and keep your hand raised and call out ‘Judge!’ again.
3 – Once the judge comes over, explain the situation and why you feel it is cheating.

It is that simple. Ok, so maybe it is not that simple. You do not know how your opponent will react and you will need to have some manner of evidence to back up your claim (even if that evidence is just a pattern of behavior for which you want the judges to look.) There might be some other hurdles to overcome, but these are the biggest two. However, before we can look at how to handle both of these hurdles, we must first allow ourselves to get over the biggest hurdle of all: being willing to call a judge.
Don’t be afraid to call a judge. The judge will not get upset with you for calling him over; as a matter of fact, one of the biggest complaints about players I hear from judges is that they do not call judges over more in potential cheating situations. They WANT you to call them over if you suspect cheating. Cheaters don’t get caught without a judge being called over to make a determination regarding cheating. I can’t stress this enough. Call a judge.

Now we get into the meat of why people don’t call judges: fear. People are naturally afraid. Don’t be upset or offended, many people are afraid and fail to act out of that fear. Whether it is fear of moving to a new town, even though you were offered the perfect job, or fear of confrontation because you don’t know how the person will react. Fear is a fact of life. Getting past your fear is the only way you will make sure that you don’t get cheated.

Most people are just afraid of the confrontation that may arise from publicly suspecting someone of cheating. That is why we have rules, punishment and, if necessary, law enforcement officials to handle your opponent’s reaction. You can overcome your fear by knowing that there are plenty of other tournament goers, judges, and TO’s that are going to assist you should your opponent have an inappropriate reaction.

Other people are afraid that they will not win whatever modest prize they can get if they are voted Best Sportsman if they call a judge for their opponent possibly cheating. I have a hint for you all: if your opponent is cheating, it is HIGHLY unlikely that they are voting for anyone for best sportsman, let alone you. Do not be afraid to lose their vote for sportsman, as you likely don’t have it to begin with, and if your opponent is actually punished for cheating, you may just get a couple of extra votes by uncovering the cheater in our midst.

As a side note, the prize for sportsman is not typically worth the loss of enjoyment you may get by feeling that an opponent cheated you in some manner. Sportsman is such a random toss-up or goes to the best salesman that unless you either get lucky or sell yourself very effectively, you are likely to not get many votes anyway. Just call a judge and do yourself and fellow tournament goers a huge favor.

If people actually called judges during their matches for suspected cheating, honest people would become more honest and dishonest people would get caught. This is the environment we want to strive towards. We want to eliminate cheating and calling judges is the first step.

Call a judge.

Call a judge.

Please, if there is any doubt, call a judge. In the next segment we will look at broad categories of cheating and why each is cheating.