How to trade out and green up on Polymarket
Trading out — also called greening up or flattening — means closing a position early to lock in the profit or loss showing on screen, win, lose or draw. Desk's Close out tool does it in one click, and its Green mode lets you shape exactly how a partial trade-out leaves your book.
What "trading out" means
A Polymarket price is a probability, and each share pays $1 if it resolves your way. Once a market has moved after you entered, your position carries an open profit or loss. Trading out is closing that position now, at the current price, instead of holding it to resolution — you take the on-screen P&L and walk away, whatever the event ultimately does.
The term greening up comes from exchange trading, where a locked profit shows in green across every outcome. To "green up" is to arrange your positions so that you finish ahead regardless of which outcome wins — the profit is banked no matter what, not riding on one result.
Flatten — close the whole position now
The simplest use of the Close out tool is Flatten. Press it and Desk closes your entire position immediately at the best available price, banking the profit or loss showing on screen. There's no shaping and no residual exposure — you're out. Use it when you just want the current P&L, done.
Green — shape a partial trade-out
When you don't want a clean exit but a chosen shape, Green mode trades out only part of the position and leaves the rest arranged the way you pick:
- Close — an equal result either way: the same P&L whether this outcome wins or not.
- Zero — $0 if this outcome wins, with your profit left riding on the others.
- Net — $0 if this outcome loses, with all the profit riding on this one.
Close is the classic even green-up; Zero and Net let you keep upside on the side you believe in while neutralising the other.
A worked example
Say you bought "Yes" at 40¢ and the market has climbed to 70¢. You're sitting on a healthy open profit, but the event hasn't resolved and you'd rather not risk giving it back.
- Open the Close out tool.
- Press Flatten to sell at 70¢ and bank the full 30¢-per-share gain right now — you're flat, and the result is locked whichever way it eventually resolves.
- Or, in Green mode, choose Close to trade out just enough that you keep the same profit whether "Yes" wins or not — greened up across both outcomes while still holding a slice.
Either way you've converted a paper gain into a booked one, on your terms, before resolution.
Exits, entries, the chaser and the drip feed are watched by the app — they only fire while Desk is open and connected. Close Desk and its automations stop.
Trading out on a thin market
A trade-out sells into the live book, so on a thin or fast-moving market the fill can land below the price you saw — the on-screen P&L reflects the current best price, not a guaranteed exit for the whole size. On liquid markets the difference is negligible; on a thin one, expect to walk down a few rungs to close a large position, and size accordingly.