Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 12:18 AM ET

CZR max pain

Spot (delayed)$28.7
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$28-2.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.99±6.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.7617K puts / 22K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3013.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$550Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$28-2.4%6d
Fri, Nov 6$30+4.5%13d
Fri, Nov 13$29+1.0%20d
Fri, Nov 20$30+4.5%27d
Fri, Nov 27$30+4.5%34d
Fri, Dec 4$30+4.5%41d
Fri, Dec 18$28-2.4%55d
Fri, Jan 15$28-2.4%83d
Fri, Mar 19$26-9.4%146d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2831324344555$42M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot28315232935475K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CZR open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot28315232935473030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot10192837465592%8%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 3051824303750+$523K−$523K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.01220.02380.02-0.01-0.08
0.91-0.01230.03030.02-0.01-0.09
0.89-0.01240.03920.03-0.01-0.11
0.86-0.01250.05210.03-0.01-0.13
0.83-0.01260.07170.04-0.01-0.17
0.78-0.01270.10400.04-0.01-0.22
0.69-0.00280.16380.05-0.01-0.31
0.51-0.00290.28070.06-0.00-0.52
0.19-0.00300.24980.04-0.00-0.93
0.08-0.00310.10860.02—-1.00
0.06-0.00320.06500.02—-1.00
0.05-0.00330.04450.01—-1.00
0.04-0.00340.03280.01—-1.00
0.03-0.00350.02540.01—-1.00
0.03-0.00370.01680.01—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot212930313K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot31825.530354454K54K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 78K call contracts, 99K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: CZR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk