Option strategy cheat sheet

Quick answer: The strategy cheat sheet lists all 52 StrategyGyan strategies in one table, showing each one's family, outlook, defined or undefined risk, debit or credit flow, and per-unit maximum profit and loss — every figure computed by the site's payoff engine, not copied from a textbook.

Every number in the table below is computed, not asserted. The site prices all option strategies off one arbitrage-consistent NIFTY chain — spot 24,000, thirty days to expiry, r 6.5%, a mild downside skew — and the payoff engine reads each strategy's legs from that chain to work out maximum profit, maximum loss and breakevens. Figures are stated per unit of the underlying. To convert to rupees, multiply by the lot size, which at the time of writing is 75 for NIFTY and 30 for BANKNIFTY, though NSE revises these periodically. A strategy showing a maximum loss of ₹111 per unit therefore risks ₹8,325 on one NIFTY lot before any charges.

Max profit and max loss are per unit of the underlying, computed by the payoff engine from each strategy's illustrative legs (NIFTY spot 24,000). Multiply by the lot size for rupee figures. "Unlimited" means no structural cap exists — not that the outcome is likely.

What Unlimited means in this table

Where a cell reads Unlimited, it is a statement about the mathematics of the payoff, not about probability. It means no structural cap exists: as the underlying moves far enough in one direction, the profit or loss keeps growing because no long leg sits out there to stop it. A naked short call carries unlimited loss because price has no ceiling. A long call carries unlimited profit for the same structural reason on the upside. Neither word is a forecast. Unlimited profit is not a promise of profit, and unlimited loss on a well-sized position may never come close to being realised. The table describes the shape of the payoff, and the shape is all it describes.

Why max profit is rarely collected in full

The maximum-profit figure assumes an outcome that is hard to hold on to. For most credit structures it requires the underlying to settle exactly in the sweet spot at expiry, which means carrying the position through the final days when gamma is at its most violent and a small move swings the mark sharply. For debit structures the peak profit sits at a single strike. In practice bid-ask spreads widen in the wings, Securities Transaction Tax and exchange charges skim every leg, and most traders close before expiry to sidestep pin and settlement risk. The realised figure is almost always below the printed maximum, and on any spread whose printed maximum is under about ₹50 per unit, costs alone can consume a large share of it.

How to read the risk and flow pills

Two pills carry most of the table's meaning. The risk pill reads Defined or Undefined: Defined means a long leg or the structure itself caps the loss, so the payoff stops falling in both tails; Undefined means only the underlying reaching zero, or nothing at all, limits it. The flow pill reads Debit or Credit: a debit position pays premium out at entry and is a purchase of optionality; a credit position collects premium and is a sale of it. The two pills are independent — a debit spread and a credit spread can have identical defined risk — and neither pill alone tells you whether a structure suits any particular account, which depends on margin, liquidity and position size the table cannot see.

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Last reviewed 9 July 2026. Educational content only — not investment advice.