---
title: What pool notes are
description: Pool notes are shares of the pool. They rise when traders lose and fall when traders win.
---

The pool is the other side of every position on OptionHouse. Its money sits in one place, and pool notes are shares of it.

## A share of results

A note is worth its share of the pool. When traders lose, what they paid stays in the pool and every note is worth more. When traders win, the pool pays them and every note is worth less.

Notes are a share of results, good and bad. There is no fixed return and no interest.

## Underwriting, not a deposit

Providing liquidity is underwriting. Notes fall when winners are paid, and nothing is guaranteed. A note can lose most or all of its value.

## The pool comes first for winners

Winners are paid from the pool before any liquidity provider can take money out. That is what makes a trader's win safe to count on, and it is why a take-out can wait.

:::note

Today the pool runs on paper money in a concept demo. Notes don't exist yet, and nothing here is an offer of them.

:::