It is the first round of a sanctioned Unstable draft (casual event) and you are one of the players as well as the HJ of the event. Before the round starts, the player sitting next to you suggests to their opponent that, as this is a “fun event”, they could play for Ante, in order to increase the fun even more. How do you handle this situation?

Edited Konrad Eibl (Jan. 10, 2018 08:48:53 PM)

You explain to them that playing for Ante is not allowed, as it’s basically wagering on the outcome of the match. Which is why Ante cards are banned everywhere. If they did it, it would be a Very Bad Thing.

Originally posted by Mark Mc Govern:

You explain to them that playing for Ante is not allowed, as it’s basically wagering on the outcome of the match. Which is why Ante cards are banned everywhere. If they did it, it would be a Very Bad Thing.

according to JAR, gambling on any part of the tournament is a Serious Problem. Proposing to gamble isn't, however, so I agree with Mark that you educate and prevent the mistake.

Note that playing for ante is prohibited by the law in many States, so this is also a TO concern.

Edited Francesco Scialpi (Jan. 11, 2018 09:18:55 AM)

Originally posted by Francesco Scialpi:

Originally posted by Mark Mc Govern:

You explain to them that playing for Ante is not allowed, as it’s basically wagering on the outcome of the match. Which is why Ante cards are banned everywhere. If they did it, it would be a Very Bad Thing.

according to JAR, gambling on any part of the tournament is a Serious Problem. Proposing to gamble isn't, however, so I agree with Mark that you educate and prevent the mistake.

Note that playing for ante is prohibited by the law in many States, so this is also a TO concern.

This is an interesting and very literal approach. As WotC usually enforces a zero tolerance policy regarding Bribery and Wagering though, is that really what we are supposed to do? Wagering is forbidden by the MTR (but Wagering is only defined with a single sentence there), which is also valid for regular REL. The IPG says (I of course know that you do not apply the IPG at regular REL, I am just trying to define Wagering properly) that Wagering already occurs if one offers to place a bet. I am not saying that you are necessarily wrong, but I'd be interested in a discussion/opinions about this.

The inherently casual nature of Un-play is what should make this less of a Bad Thing in my opinion. Most people playing un-limited feel that the majority of their cards are not actually worth anything (and almost none of them are by the standards of a set that size) and so playing for ante would just be a similarly antiquated silly thing to do as considering cards like Old Fogey that had a bunch of deprecated keyword abilities on it.

My approach would be more of a “I know this is a silly set, but this is still sanctioned magic, and playing for ante is wagering and not allowed.” and I'd expect them to go “Oh…okay yeah I didn't really think about that.”

Originally posted by Konrad Eibl:

This is an interesting and very literal approach. As WotC usually enforces a zero tolerance policy regarding Bribery and Wagering though, is that really what we are supposed to do?

I don't remember who I first heard this from, but I love to steal good ideas, so: let's apply the Gramma test. What's the Gramma test? “Would your Gramma know it's wrong?”

Your Gramma may not know the first thing about Magic, Wizards of the Coast, or (especially) tournaments. If you told her about ante, she might say “that sounds like gambling”, but she might also say “oh, that's interesting” - i.e., she might not think it's clearly & completely wrong.

However, if you tell your Gramma that someone offered you $$$ to concede your match, she'd probably know that's just plain wrong.

If I overhear someone who clearly doesn't know about one of the unusual (and, in this case, VERY specific-to-Magic) rules, I'll educate, including making sure they know just how serious this is.

If I overhear someone who somehow thinks it's OK to bribe their opponent (or someone who thinks it's OK to accept the bribe), I'll DQ first, and educate as part of the process.

I think Gramma would approve. :D

d:^D

Except pure tournament rules, there's also a philosophy thing: main un-rules manager, un-ideologist and, on the whole, un-creator Mark Rosewater said the following about ante: «There is a meta rule stopping ante cards that even Un-cards can’t break». For those who are interested, some other meta-rules are «Only Magic cards can be in the Magic game» and «Local law supersedes any rules», so it is pretty fundamental =) So, it is wrong from any point of view.

I am happy that you all agree, since that's exactly what I did and I was afraid that it might have been a mistake.