Why be an option/futures/day trader when it is zero-sum?
brentr: First, options and futures involve a sub-zero game. Money leaks out via commissions.Second, there are two types of players in this game. The first group is the speculators. They play the game for profit from the game. The second group is risk managers. They play the game for risk reduction. Speculators serve the risk managers. The speculator's strategy is starkly different than the risk manager's strategy. The speculator can profit by optimizing his strategy.EDIT: The assumptions made by Black, Scholes, and Merton are highly idealized. There is much research to still be done in the area of behavioral finance and the game theoretic approach to derivatives pricing.I've thought about conducting graduate research in this area because the mathematics are truly fascinating in this branch of finance/economics. When you start exploring this area from a game theory approach, you can start to understand why John Nash won the Nobel.