The dealer map is terrain. Some levels stop price cold, some barely register, and some are gaps with nothing underneath. Here is how to read it.
The classes
We rank levels by how much dealer gamma concentrates at the strike:
- MEGA_WALL: the heaviest strikes. Price reacts hard here.
- WALL: significant, a real level.
- SHELF: minor, a speed bump.
And by hardness:
- Hard walls carry a lot of delta with the gamma. They act like magnets and brakes.
- Soft walls are lighter and give way more easily.
Air pockets
An air pocket is a price zone with little dealer gamma. Nothing to catch a fall. Price moves fast through air and slows at walls, so the gaps between walls tell you where the quick moves live.
Walls behave differently by regime
The same wall is not the same in both regimes:
- Long gamma (spot above the gamma flip): walls hold. Price pins and fades back to them. Fade the edges.
- Short gamma (spot below the gamma flip): walls get run through. Price continues until a big enough wall finally holds and snaps it back.
The read
Do not just mark the walls. Mark the regime. In long gamma a wall is a fade. In short gamma a wall is a target that eventually becomes a reversal.