TELLS AND COMMON CHEATS
By Charizard666
Hey guys, John asked me to write a piece today about the current state of cheating in the community and how to better be prepared for it during a big tournament. I choose to remain anonymous in order to not make baseless accusations towards others, and so that anything I say may not be misconstrued as having further meaning than face value.
I want to talk about some tells, the most common forms of cheating, and how to prevent them.
Tells
For those of you who don’t know what a tell is, it is a change in a person’s behavior or demeanor. The most common tell among those who employ fraudulent methods to win games is trying to keep you distracted during your own turn. They will engage in seemingly friendly conversation while looking through their discard pile, or fidgeting with their hand a lot. I’ve personally witnessed players begin to rush their opponents in an effort to cheat as well as to keep them distracted. Decks being East-West as opposed to North-South also provide for easier ways for your opponent to conduct sleight of hand. Opponents who are usually fair players will leave their hand alone during your turn or shuffle it slightly but if an opponent has their discard pile in their hand as well as their hand itself, you should be wary.
Common Cheats and How to spot them
- Sleight of hand. This can include palming cards or drawing more off of a draw card. I would always ask multiple times during your opponent’s turn and your own how many cards they have in their hand just to be safe and inform your opponent that you will catch them if they make a mistake.
- Stacking. This is a harder one to catch but if you suspect your opponent is stacking their deck the easiest way to prevent it is to shuffle their deck thoroughly and carefully.
- Marked Cards. If you see a mark on your opponent’s card or see them take prizes out of order for any reason immediately call a judge and voice your concern. Unless you are cheating there is no reason to take prize cards out of order.
- Palming. Watch carefully, because some players like to pull a fast one on you and grab the card they need out of their discard pile to swing the game. This one is on you to keep an eye on your opponent and be sure to keep counts of their discard pile throughout the game. It is the most easily preventable cheat – one must simply maintain due diligence.
- Slow Playing. While this isn’t cheating per se, if you notice a change in your opponent’s pace of play, you have the right to call a judge and ask them to watch the pace of play during your game which includes you of course.
- Baiting. Opponent’s will sometimes play a card to illicit a reaction out of you or play a second Supporter for the turn in an effort to deliver a game loss due to negligence. An easy way to prevent this is to always ask your opponent, “Are you playing it?” and wait until you hear an audible yes or they shuffle their hand into their deck first. Also, keep diligence as to if they have played a Supporter already that turn and remind them of it when they attempt to play a second one.
- Double Attachments. This is a subtle but prevalent problem with players attaching twice in the same turn from their hand. Preventing this is just being diligent and noting exactly when the opponent attached and to what they attached to.
On Calling Judges
Calling a judge for something small might seem like a waste of time during your game because you will most likely not receive a time extension for anything that happens, but you should always put it into good practice to do so. If a player receives multiple small warnings or penalties throughout the tournament it will bring to light what they are actually capable of. In this recent season cheating has become more exposed in the community, yet the consequences minimal. The first ban in recent history has been issued and gives me hope that Play! Pokemon is monitoring and taking this situation more seriously than they have previously. Without calling judges and bringing these players to light, cheating will go unpunished and sometimes losing your reputation in this community can be fatal. This isn’t meant to be a witch hunt – simply a PSA to stay alert moving forward with big tournaments coming up especially the North American International Championships, where there is more money on the line for everyone involved.
Conclusion
Stay alert and have fun, Trainers. Don’t let a few bad apples ruin the fun for the rest of us. I would like to thank John for giving me an opportunity to write on here and I hope that this has helped some of you guys.