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The Options Playbook: Featuring 40 strategies for bulls, bears, rookies, all-stars and everyone in between.
The Options Playbook was created to demystify option trading and teach investors different option plays for all market conditions. No confusing jargon. No unnecessary mumbo-jumbo. Just clear, easy-to-understand explanations of more than 40 of the most popular option strategies broken down into a play-by-play format
Play Long Call, Short Call Spread, Iron Condor, etc.
The The goals and reasons to run each play
Who Should Run Rookies, Veterans or All-Stars, based on degree of difficulty
When To Run Describes each play as bullish, bearish or neutral
The A detailed overview of each strategy, their risks and the specific costs associated with multi-leg strategies. description
For the first-time option trader The Options Playbook features a "Rookie's Corner," addressing the basic definitions and concepts you need to understand this market, tips to avoid common beginner's mistakes, and suggested strategies to "get your feet wet".
For more experienced option traders, an expanded section on implied volatility explains how this handy variable can be used to find the potential range of the stock over the options life. A detailed section on pricing variables (Greeks) helps you understand how an option's price is affected by changes in market conditions. You will also learn how time decay and a change in implied volatility can affect your trade after it's in place and how to recover if things don't go according to plan.
The Options Playbook features “Options Guy Tips” from Brian Overby the author and founder of Options Playbook, Inc. Like any good coach, Overby's handy insights help you put theory into successful real-world trading.
This expanded 2nd edition includes 10 new plays and 56 new pages of handy content describing a brief history of options, five common mistakes options traders make and how to avoid them, an expanded glossary, how to manage option positions by rolling to a different month and strike, to explaining the difference between index and stock options, managing early exercise and assignment and how to calculate position delta and use it to manage overall position risk of a multi-leg option strategy.
Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. Copies of this document may be obtained from your broker, from any exchange on which options are traded or by contacting The Options Clearing Corporation, 125 S. Franklin Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606 (investorservices@theocc.com).
Play Long Call, Short Call Spread, Iron Condor, etc.
The The goals and reasons to run each play
Who Should Run Rookies, Veterans or All-Stars, based on degree of difficulty
When To Run Describes each play as bullish, bearish or neutral
The A detailed overview of each strategy, their risks and the specific costs associated with multi-leg strategies. description
For the first-time option trader The Options Playbook features a "Rookie's Corner," addressing the basic definitions and concepts you need to understand this market, tips to avoid common beginner's mistakes, and suggested strategies to "get your feet wet".
For more experienced option traders, an expanded section on implied volatility explains how this handy variable can be used to find the potential range of the stock over the options life. A detailed section on pricing variables (Greeks) helps you understand how an option's price is affected by changes in market conditions. You will also learn how time decay and a change in implied volatility can affect your trade after it's in place and how to recover if things don't go according to plan.
The Options Playbook features “Options Guy Tips” from Brian Overby the author and founder of Options Playbook, Inc. Like any good coach, Overby's handy insights help you put theory into successful real-world trading.
This expanded 2nd edition includes 10 new plays and 56 new pages of handy content describing a brief history of options, five common mistakes options traders make and how to avoid them, an expanded glossary, how to manage option positions by rolling to a different month and strike, to explaining the difference between index and stock options, managing early exercise and assignment and how to calculate position delta and use it to manage overall position risk of a multi-leg option strategy.
Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. Copies of this document may be obtained from your broker, from any exchange on which options are traded or by contacting The Options Clearing Corporation, 125 S. Franklin Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606 (investorservices@theocc.com).
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 11, 2009
914 people are currently reading
437 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 15, 2020
Not the best beginners guide
Started off strong, easy to read, some stuff like the Greeks were explained understandably enough. But once author started getting into the ‘options playbook’, he forgot to add details. Also, not the most concise read ever. More of a reference guide than a book you can learn from.
Started off strong, easy to read, some stuff like the Greeks were explained understandably enough. But once author started getting into the ‘options playbook’, he forgot to add details. Also, not the most concise read ever. More of a reference guide than a book you can learn from.
February 3, 2025
Great book for beginner and intermediate investors interested in an overview of how Options work and the most used strategies by professional traders.
December 26, 2018
Good but not enough for me
I personally wasn't a fan. Time value, Greeks and implied value could've been better explained and in depth. It also felt mostly basic for options set ups.
I personally wasn't a fan. Time value, Greeks and implied value could've been better explained and in depth. It also felt mostly basic for options set ups.
December 10, 2025
Seems interesting in the beginning especially call and put illustration 😃 so started to read but read upto 53p only and then skimmed a little since it's not interesting anymore 😔 and usual stuff only is there 😮💨. May use the plays given for 40 strategies as reference later.
Takeaways:
When you buy a call - you have the right to “call” the stock away from somebody
* If you sell a call - you have the obligation to sell the stock, if the call buyer decides to invoke the right to buy the stock
When you buy a put - you have the right to “put” stock to somebody.
* If you sell a put - you have the obligation to buy the stock, if the put buyer decides to invoke the right to sell the stock.
HISTORICAL VOLATILITY:
how much the stock price fluctuated on a day-to-day basis over a one-year period.
Implied volatility:
* It is what the marketplace is “implying” the volatility of the stock will be in the future, based on the price of an option
* a stock should end up within one standard deviation of its original price 68% of the time during the upcoming 12 months.
one standard deviation move =(stock price × implied volatility × √days to expiration) ÷ √365
[ these quick and dirty calculations aren’t 100% accurate, mainly because they assume a normal distribution instead of a log normal distribution ]
Delta:
The probability an option will wind up at least $.01 in-the-money at expiration.
Vega:
Vega does not have any effect on the intrinsic value of options; it only affects the “time value” of an option’s price
Rho:
just keep in mind that if you are trading shorter-term options, changing interest rates shouldn’t affect the value of your options too much
But if you are trading longer-term options such as LEAPS, rho can have a much more significant effect due to greater “cost to carry.”
Takeaways:
When you buy a call - you have the right to “call” the stock away from somebody
* If you sell a call - you have the obligation to sell the stock, if the call buyer decides to invoke the right to buy the stock
When you buy a put - you have the right to “put” stock to somebody.
* If you sell a put - you have the obligation to buy the stock, if the put buyer decides to invoke the right to sell the stock.
HISTORICAL VOLATILITY:
how much the stock price fluctuated on a day-to-day basis over a one-year period.
Implied volatility:
* It is what the marketplace is “implying” the volatility of the stock will be in the future, based on the price of an option
* a stock should end up within one standard deviation of its original price 68% of the time during the upcoming 12 months.
one standard deviation move =(stock price × implied volatility × √days to expiration) ÷ √365
[ these quick and dirty calculations aren’t 100% accurate, mainly because they assume a normal distribution instead of a log normal distribution ]
Delta:
The probability an option will wind up at least $.01 in-the-money at expiration.
Vega:
Vega does not have any effect on the intrinsic value of options; it only affects the “time value” of an option’s price
Rho:
just keep in mind that if you are trading shorter-term options, changing interest rates shouldn’t affect the value of your options too much
But if you are trading longer-term options such as LEAPS, rho can have a much more significant effect due to greater “cost to carry.”
May 22, 2024
Options scare me -- and they should scare you, too. But a comprehensive wealth strategy needs to include options to protect against loss, just like banks, hedge funds, and the super-rich. This book teaches everything you need to get started, but packs a lot into a quick read. For me the difference between 4 stars and 5 stars was the need for more depth. That would probably be too much detail for 90% of readers, but that's what I really wanted: for example, I better understand the Four Greeks, but I do not feel I've gained any mastery and wanted to read 1-2 more chapters on them.
March 28, 2024
"The Options Playbook" is a must-read for anyone interested in trading options or looking to expand their knowledge in this area. It's very well put together, making complex concepts easy to understand. The book serves as a good reference guide, offering a variety of strategies for different market conditions or outlooks. Despite the complexity of the subject matter, the tone of the book is light-hearted, making it an enjoyable read for anyone interested in options trading.
September 2, 2024
“The Options Playbook” es una excelente introducción al trading de opciones. Aunque ya tenía conocimientos previos, encontré que el libro cumple bien su función como punto de partida, con explicaciones claras y accesibles. Sin embargo, su enfoque es algo superficial en términos de profundidad, por lo que aquellos que busquen un análisis más avanzado necesitarán complementarlo con otras lecturas. Aun así, es una guía de consulta útil para revisar estrategias básicas.
May 31, 2025
Great Introductory Book for Stock Options
A comprehensive introduction to stock options, related terminology, the ways and well known combinations (plays) they are traded in is provided in easy to understand language with examples.
Can be used as a handy reference book for executing option strategies.
A comprehensive introduction to stock options, related terminology, the ways and well known combinations (plays) they are traded in is provided in easy to understand language with examples.
Can be used as a handy reference book for executing option strategies.
August 16, 2025
A useful introduction to options: it gives you all the fundamental concepts you need when trading covered calls and put options, including parts related to risk management. I enjoyed less the part about the strategies, just because I think that it’s better to create your strategies by buying and selling options. You need to make small mistakes to learn. However, a good book.
July 2, 2018
Good introduction to stock options patterns but oddly presents a great many patterns that are only for “veterans” who are unlikely to read this book.
If you believe the Black Scholes model assumptions are wrong like me, you will find the book often frustrating...
If you believe the Black Scholes model assumptions are wrong like me, you will find the book often frustrating...
January 26, 2019
Quick, right to the point, strategies presented clearly
Example uses of each strategy would have been nice. Otherwise super quick initial read and will surely serve as a resource in subsequent options trading.
Example uses of each strategy would have been nice. Otherwise super quick initial read and will surely serve as a resource in subsequent options trading.
May 29, 2020
Excellent book!
This book is great, it helps to understand in a very easy way, how options work, different trading strategies.
Definitely a must if you just started trading options or you are intermediate trader.
This book is great, it helps to understand in a very easy way, how options work, different trading strategies.
Definitely a must if you just started trading options or you are intermediate trader.
November 25, 2020
Straight forward, no fluff book on option strategies for novice through expert. Strategies are laid out in easy to understand templates explaining all the risks and rewards. Useful for both new and seasoned options traders.
October 7, 2018
Great
This book is well organized, comprehensive, and jovial. The author explains in detail what he has learned and a man
This book is well organized, comprehensive, and jovial. The author explains in detail what he has learned and a man
May 27, 2020
A bit overly simplistic - more of a dictionary of option strategies than anything else.
May 28, 2020
Excellent book
Great book to read and follow Great strategies.
Explained all strategies in easy way to implement. All the best.nice book
Great book to read and follow Great strategies.
Explained all strategies in easy way to implement. All the best.nice book
March 5, 2021
Great explanations of several strategies. I still use it for reference. Personally love that the strategies are given a skill rating needed by the investor and the use of humor throughout.
January 25, 2022
Good intro book for a quick overview of various options plays.
July 22, 2023
Awesome book!
Very helpful. I was able to review and learn my option knowledge. The pictures helped me to understand the type of the options.
Very helpful. I was able to review and learn my option knowledge. The pictures helped me to understand the type of the options.
April 29, 2024
Very informative
A good read that explains the various options strategies. While I will be sticking to the rookie corner the other more advanced options are cool to learn about.
A good read that explains the various options strategies. While I will be sticking to the rookie corner the other more advanced options are cool to learn about.
May 13, 2024
Not bad for a beginner, but some strategies need a bit more depth.
Currently reading
May 30, 2025Good intro so far
December 8, 2022
Excellent book. Changed my way of thinking of options. "The Greeks" section alone is worth buying of this book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews