A single leg buys or sells one contract at a time; a spread buys and sells two legs at once, and the two legs are scored as one trade. The simulator offers two combo orders: a vertical spread has two legs, an iron condor has four. One thing first: a combo only changes how profit and loss are capped — get the direction wrong and you still lose money, and fees are charged per leg.
Both legs must be calls or both puts, share the same expiry, have different strikes, and one must be bought while the other is sold. The bought leg pays premium and the sold leg collects it: pay more than you collect and it is a debit spread (net cost); collect more than you pay and it is a credit spread (net income).
The cap on profit and loss (net in the simulator, including both the opening and the closing fees): a debit spread can lose at most the net cost plus fees, and can gain at most the strike distance minus the net cost, less fees; a credit spread can gain at most the net income less fees, and can lose at most the strike distance minus the net income, plus fees.
Breakeven: a debit call spread breaks even at the bought leg's strike plus the net cost; a credit call spread at the sold leg's strike plus the net income; for puts it is the other way around by subtraction — a debit put spread at the bought leg's strike minus the net cost, a credit put spread at the sold leg's strike minus the net income.
An iron condor has four legs: sell an OTM call, buy a further OTM call, sell an OTM put, buy a further OTM put. The sold legs sit on the inside and the bought legs on the outside; the two sold strikes must not cross — the sold put's strike must be below the sold call's strike — and the net income must be positive, meaning the sold legs collect more premium in total than the bought legs cost.
The net income collected is the most it can gain (after fees). While the spot stays between the two sold strikes, time decay works in its favour; if the spot moves out either side, the loss on that side is capped at the wider wing's strike distance minus the net income, plus fees. There are two breakevens: the lower one is the sold put's strike minus the net income, the upper one the sold call's strike plus the net income.
One reminder: the most an iron condor can gain is the premium collected at entry — step outside the range and it still loses, so never treat it as a sure win.
Single legs still cost $0.65 per contract per side; combos cost $2.50 per leg per contract on each open or close (opening 1 vertical spread costs $5, opening 1 iron condor costs $10, closing costs the same), and all P&L is net of fees; one combo open counts as 1 open.
A credit vertical spread locks the strike distance minus the net income, times 100 times contracts; an iron condor locks the wider wing's distance minus the net income, times 100 times contracts; a debit spread locks no extra margin. Combo margin is a simplified simulator convention, not a broker's real margin requirement.
Settlement is in cash — no shares change hands; in-the-money legs settle on the difference between the settlement price and the strike, out-of-the-money legs expire worthless; 0DTE expires the same day and never carries overnight. In the simulator, no new positions after 15:30 ET, and a prompt to close before 15:55 ET.
Start with a single long leg, 1 contract, to get a feel for premium and fees; then try one debit vertical spread: check the mid-price and the spread first, and work out the most you can lose before you place the order; write your exit plan before opening — how much gain to leave on, how much loss to accept, and by when — all three before entry. Leave iron condors until vertical spreads feel familiar.
This simulator uses real CBOE option chains delayed about 15 minutes, starts with $10,000 in virtual funds, charges $0.65 per contract per side in fees, and shows P&L net of fees; short-sale margin is a simplified simulated rule at 20% of the strike, not a real broker margin. The simulator is for practicing orders, discipline, and review. It is not investment advice and promises no returns.
Back to the simulator | What is 0DTE? | Simulator Discipline | FAQ | How to Read the Option Chain | Expiry Day | Selling Margin | End-of-Day Review | What is SPX? | SPX vs SPY Options: What Is the Difference? | In, At, or Out of the Money | Implied Volatility | How to Write an Exit Plan | Call or Put | Time Value and Theta | The Greeks