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In Optiver's trading interviews, usually from the second round on, you play a live market-making game. The interviewer asks for a bid and an ask on the sum of some playing cards and trades against your prices as the cards are revealed. They check that your spread fits your uncertainty, that you update after each card, and that you notice when the person trading with you knows more than you do.
This page is an original simulation of that format, which also appears at SIG, IMC and Flow Traders. You sit with 3 to 5 AI traders who each hold two hidden cards, quote first on every street, then pick off their bad prices before the other bots do. After the hand you are scored on pricing, the clear edges you took and discipline, with a trade-by-trade review.
The interviewer asks you to quote a bid and an ask on an uncertain number, usually the sum of cards drawn from a deck. As cards are revealed you re-quote and the interviewer trades against you. You are judged on whether your spread fits your uncertainty, how you update fair value and how you manage your position.
It varies by office and role, but it usually comes once you reach interviews with traders, often the second round or later. That is after the online numerical tests such as the 80-questions-in-8-minutes math test.
Work out the expected value of the cards you cannot see, center your quote there, and make the spread match how unsure you are. Tighten as cards flip, keep size small early, and skew your quote to reduce a position rather than to chase trades.
No. It is an original simulation of the generic make-a-market-on-a-card-sum exercise used at firms like Optiver, SIG, IMC and Flow Traders. The rules, scoring and AI traders here are QuantVault's own.