How are people running a 0DTE iron condor without sitting at the screen all day
u/BudgetGold2354 ·
Reddit — r/thetagang
· May 29, 2026 at 05:36
· ⬆ 20 pts
· 💬 54 comments
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Closed an SPX iron condor at the worst possible moment on Tuesday. The position would have expired worthless. I was on a call, glanced at my phone, saw the underlying pushing toward my short put, panicked, and closed for a 60% loss. Two hours later it reversed and would have been fine. Second time this month I've done some version of this.
The strategy itself isn't the issue. 0DTE iron condors on SPX have been the best Sharpe thing in my book for the last four months. Win rate matches the backtest. Theta does what theta does. The wings work when they get tested.
The issue is me being in the loop. I have a day job. 0DTEs move in seconds. By the time I've pulled up my chain to evaluate something I'm already late, and the move I was reacting to has finished moving.
Options as I see them:
Walk away and let it ride. The wings define max loss at entry. Set the position, don't look at the position, accept whatever the close shows. This is what the strategy is supposed to look like. In practice I keep breaking it.
Bracket orders. They work fine for one-leg. The four-leg condor in fast markets falls apart. Either one leg fills at a price that doesn't match the others or the bracket sits and you're back to manual.
Some kind of rule automation. The entry, the profit close, and the bail-out condition all live somewhere that isn't my head.
Drop the strategy. Last resort but on the table.
What are people actually doing here.