Oct 08, 2026 by Offer

Optiver Market Making Game 2027: How the Trading Game Works

For the Optiver market making game interview, quote tight two-sided prices around your fair value estimate, keep positions near flat by skewing quotes, and update immediately on new information. Disciplined process beats predictions. The winners have the best process, not the best predictions. Commonly reported by candidates.

What This Question Assesses

The game tests trading instincts that cannot be faked: risk management, probabilistic thinking, and emotional discipline. Interviewers watch whether you chase the market or make it, whether you respect position limits, and how you react to losses. The winners are rarely the candidates with the best predictions — they are the ones with the best process: disciplined quoting, inventory control, and calm updating.

Optiver Market Making Game Interview: How to Answer

Step 1 — Estimate fair value first. Before quoting, form a view: what is this thing worth given the information so far? Every quote should be anchored to an explicit fair value, not a gut feeling.
Step 2 — Quote both sides. Offer to buy slightly below and sell slightly above your fair value. The spread is your edge — it compensates you for the risk of trading with better-informed players.
Step 3 — Manage your inventory. If you accumulate a long position, shade your quotes down to attract sellers and discourage buyers (skew); if short, shade up. Never let a position grow unchecked — define your max pain in advance.
Step 4 — Update on new information. When prices move or news arrives, revise fair value immediately and re-quote. Stale quotes get picked off; the game punishes slow updating more than wrong initial estimates.

An example line: "My fair value is 50 based on what we have seen, so I would quote 48 bid, 52 offer — if I get lifted and go long, I will skew my quotes lower to flatten out, because carrying directional risk without an edge is how you lose the game."

Optiver Market Making Game Interview: Common Mistakes

Trading on gut instead of quoting around value. Taking directional punts without a spread is gambling, not market making. The game rewards the house, not the punter.
Ignoring inventory. Letting a position balloon because "it will come back" is the classic blow-up. Skew quotes and respect limits mechanically.
Freezing after a loss. Losses are part of the game; the candidates who recover are the ones who re-anchor to fair value and keep quoting. Tilt loses tournaments.

The market-making game is the closest thing to the actual job in the whole process — treat it as a job preview and show the discipline the desk wants.

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FAQ

Do I need trading experience to do well? No — the game is designed for beginners. What matters is grasping the concepts (fair value, spread, inventory) and applying them calmly, not prior market knowledge.

What is skewing? Adjusting your quotes away from symmetric around fair value to manage inventory: lower both quotes when long to encourage selling to you less and buying from you more, flattening the position.

How important is speed? Updating quickly matters, but disciplined updating beats frantic updating. Fast wrong quotes lose money faster than slow right ones.

What do interviewers actually score? Process over P&L: sensible quoting, inventory awareness, updating on information, and composure. A profitable but reckless player impresses less than a disciplined small loser.

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