1. Tournament is down to 3 tables. You are about to break the 3rd one and be down to 2. Do you pause the action at the other two tables, and do you pause the clock during this time?
2. Final table - Do you pause the clock when heading to the final table?
3. Tables are uneven: Two tables left; Table 1 is 8 handed and table 2 is 6 handed. You are bringing a player from the 8 to the 6 handed table, but the player designated to move (the next BB) is involved in the hand. Do you allow the shorter table to play a hand unbalanced or do you hold the action until the player is out of the hand? Would it matter if the tables were 8 handed and 5 handed? Would you ever pause the clock add time back on if you held the table up?
4. Hand for hand: Pause the clock, add time, or just let it run? Do levels go up during this time as well?
1. I also do not stop the clock here. If the tables are in close proximity to one another and people are moving off the broken table, I may ask the dealer of a remaining table who is in the middle of a shuffle to hold up for players coming in.
2. I may stop the clock when we get to numbers for a final table, to give time for everyone to move to a different location for the final table or to do a redraw. Although in casual games, occasionally I might let the clock run out to complete a level and start the final table at the next level, to keep things moving.
3. I do not pause the clock in these situations. I am OK with having play continue even though a table is 2 short - 3 short I would pause play at that table, and I think that is consistent with the TDA rule. I would not add any additional time.
4. I do not pause the clock at hand-for-hand. I also do not add time, and levels go up as normal. I will assess penalties and warnings for what appear to be game delays.
In general, I will not pause the clock or add time to it except in extraordinary circumstances where all players have had to stop playing or have encountered a delay. As an example, I may occasionally pause the clock at the end of a scheduled break, if for some reason I cannot get all tables to start up again together and on time. Often, we choose a structure that allows us to reasonably estimate when we think a tournament is going to end, and stopping the clock too often, unnecessarily extends the length of the tournament IMO. Actions like balancing and breaking tables, and playing hand-for-hand for example, are standard actions in a tournament that should be considered part of the overall time "budget", and players simply need to accept that and adjust IMO.