diff --git a/test/e2e/gameserver_test.go b/test/e2e/gameserver_test.go
index 05240c45b2..e17128d92e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/gameserver_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/gameserver_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	agonesv1 "agones.dev/agones/pkg/apis/agones/v1"
 	e2eframework "agones.dev/agones/test/e2e/framework"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -554,38 +555,58 @@ func TestGameServerReserve(t *testing.T) {
 	logger.Info("Received response")
 	assert.Equal(t, "ACK: RESERVE\n", reply)
 
-	gs, err = framework.WaitForGameServerStateWithLogger(logger, gs, agonesv1.GameServerStateReserved, time.Minute)
-	assert.NoError(t, err, fmt.Sprintf("GameServer Name: %s", gs.ObjectMeta.Name))
-	assert.Equal(t, agonesv1.GameServerStateReserved, gs.Status.State, fmt.Sprintf("GameServer Name: %s", gs.ObjectMeta.Name))
+	// might as well Sleep, nothing else going to happen for at least 10 seconds. Let other things work.
+	logger.Info("Waiting for 10 seconds")
+	time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
 
-	// it should go back after 10 seconds
-	gs, err = framework.WaitForGameServerStateWithLogger(logger, gs, agonesv1.GameServerStateReady, 15*time.Second)
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, agonesv1.GameServerStateReady, gs.Status.State)
+	// Since polling the backing GameServer can sometimes pause for longer than 10 seconds,
+	// we are instead going to look at the event stream for the GameServer to determine that the requisite change to
+	// Reserved and back to Ready has taken place.
+	//
+	// There is a possibility that Events may get dropped if the Kubernetes cluster gets overwhelmed, or
+	// time out after a period. So if this test becomes flaky because due to these potential issues, we will
+	// need to find an alternate approach. At this stage through, it seems to be working consistently.
+	err = wait.PollImmediate(time.Second, 2*time.Minute, func() (bool, error) {
+		logger.Info("checking gameserver events")
+		list, err := framework.KubeClient.CoreV1().Events(defaultNs).Search(scheme.Scheme, gs)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
 
-	list, err := framework.KubeClient.CoreV1().Events(defaultNs).Search(scheme.Scheme, gs)
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
+		var readyEvent corev1.Event
+		var reserverdEvent corev1.Event
 
-	for _, e := range list.Items {
-		logger.WithField("first-time", e.FirstTimestamp).WithField("count", e.Count).
-			WithField("last-time", e.LastTimestamp).
-			WithField("name", e.Name).
-			WithField("reason", e.Reason).WithField("message", e.Message).Info("gs event details")
-	}
+		for _, e := range list.Items {
+			if e.Reason == string(agonesv1.GameServerStateReady) {
+				readyEvent = e
+			}
+			if e.Reason == string(agonesv1.GameServerStateReserved) {
+				reserverdEvent = e
+			}
+		}
+		if readyEvent.Reason == "" || reserverdEvent.Reason == "" {
+			return false, nil
+		}
 
-	pod, err := framework.KubeClient.CoreV1().Pods(defaultNs).Get(gs.ObjectMeta.Name, metav1.GetOptions{})
-	assert.NoError(t, err)
-	logger.WithField("status", pod.Status).Info("Pod Status")
+		// debug once we have both a Ready and Reserved event
+		for _, e := range list.Items {
+			logger.WithField("first-time", e.FirstTimestamp).WithField("count", e.Count).
+				WithField("last-time", e.LastTimestamp).
+				WithField("name", e.Name).
+				WithField("reason", e.Reason).WithField("message", e.Message).Info("gs event details")
+		}
 
-	list, err = framework.KubeClient.CoreV1().Events(defaultNs).Search(scheme.Scheme, pod)
+		if readyEvent.Count != 2 {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		diff := readyEvent.LastTimestamp.Sub(reserverdEvent.FirstTimestamp.Time).Seconds()
+		// allow for some variation
+		if diff >= 10 && diff <= 20 {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+		return true, errors.Errorf("difference of %v seconds was not between 10 and 20", diff)
+	})
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
-
-	for _, e := range list.Items {
-		logger.WithField("first-time", e.FirstTimestamp).WithField("count", e.Count).
-			WithField("last-time", e.LastTimestamp).
-			WithField("name", e.Name).
-			WithField("reason", e.Reason).WithField("message", e.Message).Info("gs pod details")
-	}
 }
 
 func TestGameServerShutdown(t *testing.T) {