Patent ID: 8738484

Claim:
A method for trading discretionary orders in an electronic options trading environment with market maker participation, comprising: providing a market center which lists a plurality of one or more options series in a market with an NBBO, wherein the market center has at least one order book for each option series and at least one quote book for each option series, wherein the order book has a displayed interest component and a nondisplayed interest component, and wherein the plurality of the option series have lead market maker; receiving an incoming discretionary order having a total size, a display price for display, and a discretionary price that is not for display; determining whether the incoming discretionary order is marketable based on either its display price or its discretionary price; responsive to determining that the incoming discretionary order is marketable: determining whether the incoming discretionary order includes at least one of the option series that has a lead market maker; responsive to determining that the incoming discretionary order is for the at least one of option series that has a lead market maker: determining whether the lead market maker has at least one quote at the NBBO; responsive to determining that the lead market maker has a quote at the NBBO: computing an allocation percentage for the lead market maker; and matching the incoming discretionary order up to the lesser of the total size of the incoming discretionary order or the computed allocation percentage amount for the lead market maker.