Click here to skip to the list. Something has an asymmetric payoff if you stand to gain a lot more than you stand to lose. Stock options, for example, have an asymmetric payoff curve. In the chart above, the dotted blue line represents the payoff for a stock. It’s linear because a $1 increase in share price means a $1 increase for the stockholder, and a $1 decrease in share price means a $1 decrease for the stockholder.
