diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/api/game.service.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/api/game.service.ts
index 4f8f30aa..53731cfd 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/api/game.service.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/api/game.service.ts
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ export class GameService {
     );
   }
 
-  public getGamePlayState(gameId: string, teamId: string): Observable<GamePlayState> {
-    return this.http.get<GamePlayState>(`${this.url}/game/${gameId}/play-state/${teamId}`);
+  public getGamePlayState(gameId: string): Observable<GamePlayState> {
+    return this.http.get<GamePlayState>(`${this.url}/game/${gameId}/play-state}`);
   }
 
   public getSyncStartState(gameId: string): Observable<SyncStartGameState> {
diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/continue-to-gameboard-button/continue-to-gameboard-button.component.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/continue-to-gameboard-button/continue-to-gameboard-button.component.ts
index 91466bc2..5703a4c3 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/continue-to-gameboard-button/continue-to-gameboard-button.component.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/continue-to-gameboard-button/continue-to-gameboard-button.component.ts
@@ -27,14 +27,6 @@ export class ContinueToGameboardButtonComponent implements OnChanges {
     private routerService: RouterService) { }
 
   async ngOnChanges(changes: SimpleChanges): Promise<void> {
-    // then we need to manually check if they've already started and redirect if so
-    // const gameStartPhase = await firstValueFrom(this.apiGame.getStartPhase(ctx.game.id, ctx.player.teamId));
-    // this.logService.logInfo(`Game ${ctx.game.id} (player ${ctx.player.id}) is at start phase "${gameStartPhase}".`);
-
-    // if (gameStartPhase == GameStartPhase.Started || gameStartPhase == GameStartPhase.Starting) {
-    //   this.redirectToExternalGameLoadingPage(ctx);
-    // }
-
     if (changes.context && !!this.context) {
       switch (this.context.gameMode) {
         case "vm":
@@ -69,7 +61,7 @@ export class ContinueToGameboardButtonComponent implements OnChanges {
       .toString();
 
     // this is only enabled if the game is started or starting
-    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(context.gameId, context.player.teamId));
+    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(context.gameId));
     this.isEnabled = playState == GamePlayState.Started || playState == GamePlayState.Starting;
   }
 }
diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/external-game-link-banner/external-game-link-banner.component.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/external-game-link-banner/external-game-link-banner.component.ts
index 50337076..181bcf4e 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/external-game-link-banner/external-game-link-banner.component.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/components/external-game-link-banner/external-game-link-banner.component.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export class ExternalGameLinkBannerComponent implements OnInit {
 
     this.isExternalGameReady$ = combineLatest([
       this.gameService.retrieve(this.gameId),
-      this.gameService.getGamePlayState(this.gameId, this.teamId)
+      this.gameService.getGamePlayState(this.gameId)
     ]).pipe(
       map(([game, playState]) => ({ mode: game.mode, playState })),
       map(modeAndPlayState => modeAndPlayState.mode == GameEngineMode.External && modeAndPlayState.playState == GamePlayState.Started)
diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/pages/external-game-loading-page/external-game-loading-page.component.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/pages/external-game-loading-page/external-game-loading-page.component.ts
index f0eac71e..c0e23e6c 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/pages/external-game-loading-page/external-game-loading-page.component.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/game/pages/external-game-loading-page/external-game-loading-page.component.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export class ExternalGameLoadingPageComponent implements OnInit {
     this.log.logInfo("Launching game with context", ctx);
 
     // if the player already has a session for the game and it's happening right now, move them along
-    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameApi.getGamePlayState(ctx.game.id, ctx.player.teamId));
+    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameApi.getGamePlayState(ctx.game.id));
     if (playState == GamePlayState.Started) {
       this.log.logInfo("The game is already started - move them to the game page", ctx.player);
       this.handleGameReady(ctx);
diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/external-sync-game.guard.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/external-sync-game.guard.ts
index b9ff1018..f04309e8 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/external-sync-game.guard.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/external-sync-game.guard.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export class ExternalSyncGameGuard implements CanActivate, CanActivateChild {
       return false;
     }
 
-    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(gameId, teamId));
+    const playState = await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(gameId));
     return playState == GamePlayState.Started;
   }
 }
diff --git a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/game-is-started.guard.ts b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/game-is-started.guard.ts
index e5877f77..9aec47ed 100644
--- a/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/game-is-started.guard.ts
+++ b/projects/gameboard-ui/src/app/guards/game-is-started.guard.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,6 @@ export class GameIsStarted implements CanActivate, CanActivateChild {
     }
     this.log.logInfo("Resolved gameId for GameIsStartedGuard", gameId);
 
-    return await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(resolvedGameId, player.teamId).pipe(map(phase => phase == GamePlayState.Started)));
+    return await firstValueFrom(this.gameService.getGamePlayState(resolvedGameId).pipe(map(phase => phase == GamePlayState.Started)));
   }
 }