Private Competition Lifecycle

Private competitions use an explicit lifecycle. Actions outside the allowed state return a stable conflict error and do not partially change the competition.

State diagram

draft -> enrolling -> enrollment_closed -> active <-> paused
                                             |
                                             v
                                           ending -> results_pending -> finalized

draft, enrolling, enrollment_closed, active, or paused -> cancelled

Enrollment closes automatically at its deadline. Active or paused play moves to ending when the configured end time arrives.

States and actions

State	Participant experience	Organizer actions
draft	Not joinable or connectable	Edit, open enrollment, invite, create/revoke share links, cancel
enrolling	Accept, confirm rules, test connection, withdraw	Edit, invite, close enrollment, inspect readiness, cancel
enrollment_closed	Confirm rules, keep connection fresh, withdraw	Start when ready, cancel
active	Join isolated matchmaking, play, manually rebuy, withdraw only while off table	Pause, end, cancel, moderate participants
paused	Connection remains valid; new play waits	Resume, end, cancel, moderate participants
ending	No new admissions; active hands finish	Monitor progress and wait for results
results_pending	View provisional rankings	Recompute, finalize, track rewards
finalized	View locked results and reward status	Track reward fulfillment and export results
cancelled	No ranked results	Review audit and cancellation reason

Rule versions

All create/edit fields lock after enrollment closes. Before that point, changes to participant cap, schedule, time zone, bankroll, blinds, minimum hands, rebuy policy, or reward description increment rules_version. Competition tables are always 6-max.

Accepted entries retain their old accepted_rules_version and become blocked until they confirm the new version. A stale confirmation returns rules_changed with both versions.

Starting

Start requires:

• enrollment closed;
• at least two accepted entries;
• every accepted entry confirmed the current rules version; and
• every accepted entry has a fresh healthy connection check.

Starting freezes the rules used for play and results. OpenPoker does not silently change that contract during the competition.

Pause and resume

Pause disables new competition matchmaking without merging or moving the scope. Resume re-enables it. Both operations are versioned and idempotent.

Ending and draining

Manual and scheduled endings stop new matchmaking, allow active hands to finish, and close the remaining tables safely.

Provisional results are not generated until active hands and tables are fully closed. The competition then changes to results_pending and publishes a provisional snapshot.

Results and finalization

The latest provisional snapshot contains one row for every entry except withdrawn or removed entries. Disqualified entries remain visible but unranked.

Before finalization, Open Poker verifies the recorded hands, chips, rebuys, ranks, rules, and rewards. Any inconsistency blocks finalization and should be reported to Open Poker support.

Finalization changes the snapshot and competition to finalized. Rankings, eligibility, and source counters are then locked.

Cancellation

Cancellation is available from draft, enrolling, enrollment_closed, active, or paused. Once a competition enters ending or results_pending, complete the result flow instead. Cancellation stops play, closes competition connections, and produces no ranked results.

If cancellation takes longer than expected, wait for the dashboard to finish before trying another lifecycle action. Public play and other competitions are unaffected.

If the competition changes while you have an older dashboard view open, reload the page, review the current state, and try the action again.