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When I do a trade, I have no idea who is on the other side of the trade. It could be another professional, it could be a novice trader, or it could be a market maker. As you mentioned they all might have different goals. Here is one example. When I sell a covered call, I am thrilled when the stock rallies far above the strike price. It means I will earn my desired profit. Better than that — if the big rally comes soon, I will be able to exit the trade with perhaps 90% of my cash objective. It may be true that the person who bought my call scored a big win (if the trade was not hedged), but that’s not my loss. In fact, it was my additional gain (in the scenario presented). There are many traders and options gurus who advocate selling options only. They claim that you cannot make money with options buying. We do it for years with our pre earnings straddle buying strategy. Does it mean that they as a group lose money? Not necessarily. Again, they might have different goals and different strategies. Where does this leave you? Pick your trades carefully and make sure they make sense to you. Consider proper hedges with your options trades, and let the other folks worry about their own profit/loss ratios. You just have to worry about yours.