diff --git a/packages/server/src/index.ts b/packages/server/src/index.ts
index 5da06e7..262008a 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/index.ts
@@ -717,7 +717,12 @@ wss.on("connection", (socket, req) => {
           const room = getRoom(roomId);
           if (!room) return send(socket, { type: "error", message: "no such room" });
           const result = joinRoom(room, name, typeof msg.token === "string" ? msg.token : null);
-          if ("error" in result) return send(socket, { type: "error", message: result.error });
+          if ("error" in result) {
+            // A refused seat is worth a line: a lost seat mid-game is the
+            // costliest quiet failure this table has.
+            console.warn(`join refused: room ${room.id} name ${JSON.stringify(name)} — ${result.error}`);
+            return send(socket, { type: "error", message: result.error });
+          }
           leaveGallery(session);
           session.playerId = name;
           session.roomId = room.id;
@@ -1065,6 +1070,7 @@ wss.on("connection", (socket, req) => {
             const result = peekSummary(roomId, name, typeof seat.token === "string" ? seat.token : null);
             if (result === null) continue;
             if (result === "badToken") {
+              console.warn(`seat voided: room ${roomId} name ${JSON.stringify(name)} — the token did not match`);
               voided.push(`${roomId}:${name}`);
               continue;
             }
diff --git a/packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts b/packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts
index cbc7507..a0f8263 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts
@@ -380,6 +380,8 @@ class Net {
   feedbackReports = $state<FeedbackReportView[]>([]);
   /** Every seat this browser holds, across rooms. */
   seats = $state<Seat[]>(loadSeats());
+  /** Seats the last games answer refused: dropped only if refused again. */
+  private voidedOnce = new Set<string>();
   /** Lobby ledger: one summary per live seat. */
   stats = $state<Record<string, number | string | null> | null>(null);
   chatSeen = $state<Record<string, number>>(loadChatSeen());
@@ -673,8 +675,13 @@ class Net {
         // stays — a restarting server, a stale restore, or the wrong
         // backend all answer with ignorance, and ignorance is not
         // deletion. The wallet is capped by age instead of by trust.
+        // And a seat is dropped only on the SECOND refusal in a row: one
+        // refusal around a restart or a stale answer must not cost a seat.
         const voided = new Set((msg.voided as string[] | undefined) ?? []);
-        let kept = this.seats.filter((s) => !voided.has(`${s.roomId}:${s.name}`));
+        const doubted = new Set<string>();
+        for (const key of voided) { if (this.voidedOnce.has(key)) doubted.add(key); }
+        this.voidedOnce = voided;
+        let kept = this.seats.filter((s) => !doubted.has(`${s.roomId}:${s.name}`));
         if (kept.length > 50) kept = kept.slice(kept.length - 50);
         if (kept.length !== this.seats.length) {
           this.seats = kept;