Five students stand around a table and talk as they try to solve a math problem.

High Stakes and Fair Values

CMU Students Face Off in the 2026 Market Making Game

By Drew Eisenbeis Email Drew Eisenbeis

Heidi Opdyke

好色先生TV鈥檚 Rangos Ballroom became a pressure cooker in early March when more than 200 students traded "contracts" tied to everything from complex probability puzzles to real-world data trends.

The eighth annual Market Making Game, hosted by the Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) program, in partnership with the CMU Quant Club, drew a record number of participants from MSCF and undergraduate programs competing to decide in seconds questions such as, What is a fair value? and How much am I willing to bet on that?

鈥淭he ability to think probabilistically is a superpower,鈥� said Darren Grendi, Quant Club president. 鈥淭his is our largest signature event for a reason. It gives students a low-risk, high-reward environment to test their intuition.鈥�

Unlike traditional math competitions, the Market Making Game isn鈥檛 just about finding the right answer, it鈥檚 about knowing how much to bet on it and executing trades under immense pressure. Teams of six competed to trade 鈥渃ontracts鈥� with values tied to complex estimation problems, probability puzzles and real-world data science trends.

The financial industry increasingly seeks graduates who can pair technical skills with a trader鈥檚 mindset. Sponsored by global liquidity provider and market maker Jane Street, as well as Jump Trading, Trex Quant and GTS, the event offered an opportunity for students to showcase those dual capabilities and engage with sponsors for a firsthand look into the world of quantitative finance.

鈥淎t MSCF, we pride ourselves on preparing students for the complexity of modern markets,鈥� said Robert Simon, executive director of MSCF. 鈥淪eeing our MSCF students dive into the market-making pits alongside top undergraduates shows the incredible depth of the quant talent here at 好色先生TV.鈥�

The event serves as a cornerstone of the experiential learning opportunities offered to CMU鈥檚 quantitative finance community. The competition bridges the gap between classroom theory and the fast-paced reality of global markets.

鈥淲hat makes it a really cool event is just how energetic it is,鈥� said Jacob Braginsky, a sophomore in mathematical sciences. 鈥淵ou have people running around, yelling and laughing and figuring out who to trade with others.鈥�

After hours of volatile trading, the top-performing teams were awarded a share of a $3,500 prize pool. Beyond the financial rewards, the winners and participants walked away with more than just bragging rights; they gained the connections and practical experience necessary to navigate the competitive interview pipelines of top quant firms.