Gambling Guide

In the game of poker, a betting round is said to be closed if no player will have the right to raise in the round. Normally this occurs when a player calls, and the next player whose turn it is to act is the one who made the last raise, so he cannot raise further (this ends the betting round). The round can also said to be closed before it has actually ended if there are still players remaining to act, but they will not be entitled to raise either because the last raise was a sub-minimum all-in raise (see poker table stakes rules) or because the limit ("cap") on allowed raises has been reached.

The term is also used to describe a category of poker game in which no cards held by individual players are visible to any other player before the showdown. Most forms of draw poker are closed games (draw games with a rollout are an exception). Most forms of stud poker, in contrast, are open games, because some players' cards are dealt face up or are exposed during play (blind stud games are an exception). Most community card poker games like Texas hold 'em are considered closed as well, because the only cards exposed before showdown belong to everyone; the individual players' cards are never seen until showdown.