Bounded stopping time ($T\le N$)

A bounded stopping time is a stopping time bounded almost surely by a deterministic finite constant. In discrete time, a bound $T\le N$ makes $M_T$ integrable whenever $M_0,\dots ,M_N$ are integrable random variables, and the optional stopping theorem applies to a martingale without additional limiting hypotheses. Almost-sure finiteness alone is weaker than boundedness.