Kicking off a 3-part series on the fundamentals of 0DTE trading, Coach Ernie tackles the single most misunderstood force in options: volatility. With the VIX sitting at 25 — smack in the middle of the "Goldilocks" zone — Ernie breaks down the three volatility regimes (Zombieland, Goldilocks, and Chaos) and explains why most retail traders run from volatility when they should be running toward it.

You'll learn why premium decay actually accelerates in low volatility (killing narrow flies) and delays in high volatility (handing pro traders far more premium to collect on the final day). Ernie walks through the math behind the 10% debit rule he picked up from American Exchange floor traders 25 years ago, and shows why keeping risk-to-reward consistent — between 1:9 and 1:18 — forces you to widen your flies as VIX climbs.

Key concepts covered:

• The three VIX regimes and how to orient your trades to each

• Why low volatility = high gamma, high risk, and tiny profit potential

• How wide out-of-the-money butterflies create anti-fragile positions that get stronger under stress

• A live study showing how wider flies pay sooner, pay more, and pay faster

• Why high win-rate strategies like iron condors are "picking up nickels in front of a steamroller."

• How asymmetric trading delivers up to 50x the return on risk vs. high-probability strategies

Tomorrow (Episode 24): the Stair-Step method — how to eliminate drawdowns and play for ties while still landing the big wins.

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0DTE - VIX Decay Traps—Why Wide Flies Beat Narrow