# Max pain

The strike where expiring options pay out the least, and how much weight to give it.

**Max pain** is the strike price at which the options expiring on a given date
would pay out the least in total, so option buyers as a group lose the most.
Max pain theory holds that price tends to drift toward that strike into
expiration.

## How traders use max pain

- **Into expiry.** The pull, if any, is strongest on expiration day and in the
  last hours before the close.
- **As confluence.** Max pain carries more weight when it lines up with a
  heavy strike, a [wall](https://q-bitf.com/docs/concepts/call-wall-and-put-wall) or the
  Abs Gamma strike.
- **Far from expiry** it says little: the options behind it can change many
  times before they expire.

## Max pain vs pinning

Pinning is when price settles near a large strike into expiry because dealer
hedging around that strike keeps pulling it back. Max pain and the biggest
gamma strike often sit close together, which is one reason max pain appears
to work on some expiries. When they disagree, the gamma strike is usually the
stronger magnet.

## Max pain in q-bitf

q-bitf shows max pain with the other [key levels](https://q-bitf.com/docs/concepts/key-levels),
alongside the Abs Gamma strike, so you can see at a glance whether the two
agree.

> **Note:** Max pain is a tendency, not a target. On trend days price can
> finish far from it.

## Questions

### What is max pain in options?

The strike at which the options expiring on a date would pay out the least in total. Max pain theory says price tends to drift toward it into expiry.

### Does max pain work?

Sometimes, mainly on expiration day and when it lines up with a large gamma strike. Far from expiry, or on trend days, it carries little weight.

### Is max pain the same as the pin?

Not exactly. The pin is the strike price gravitates to because of dealer hedging; max pain is where option payouts are smallest. They are often close together.