How does Options Recon tell a real bet from a hedge or a spread?

Question

Accepted Answer

It keeps only aggressive, one-sided money: big orders, put back together from their small prints, on one side by at least 2 to 1. Two strikes traded together as a spread are found on the tape and their dollars are left out. How the board is built Big traders split one order into many small prints across exchanges. Options Recon puts those back together into the order they came from. Only large orders count: each over 250 thousand dollars and out of the ordinary for that ticker and strike. One side must hold 2× more of that money than the other. Balanced money is usually hedging, so it stays off. Spreads (two strikes traded together as one position) have limited risk, so they are not a conviction bet: their dollars are left out, and the card says spreads excluded. Two strikes on a card Not a spread: both strikes are bets the same way, a safer one and a bolder one (strikes hit). On Terminal, Order Flow shows whether the size stayed on overnight (Order Flow).