How to Read Unrealized P&L on Polymarket (US 2026)

Official Positions & Risk: unrealized P&L is calculated from the current mark versus cost basis. Official Valuation API writes the same idea as unrealizedPnl = market_value − cost. Official Monitor Your Positions sits current market price next to average entry price on the open position. Official Glossary: position value is the real-time dollar value of those contracts. The action you are reading is that gap. It is not a bank credit, and it is not a number we reprint.

Official Monitor Your Positions, Official Place a Trade, and Official Glossary do not reprint a retail column literally labelled “P&L,” “Unrealized P&L,” or “Profit.” We will not invent one. If the live Portfolio prints that phrase, use the live label. If it only prints average entry next to current market — or a green or red gap with no name — that gap is the unmarked reading this page is for.

Official Prices & Market Data teaches a Yes bought at $0.55 that settles $1.00 as +$0.45 per contract — or $0.00 if that side loses. That is settlement math on a docs example, not tonight’s book, and not the live gap on an open row. Official Positions & Risk names realized P&L only after a position closes. Unrealized is the mark while you still hold.

Official Place a Trade: after you swipe, open the Portfolio tab to track the position and market value. Official Website vs App: US residents deposit and trade in the Polymarket US app, not on polymarket.com. Official Monitor Your Positions is the filled ticket. If the live app labels the same screen Profile, Positions, or something else, use the live control — we will not invent a second header those pages do not print.

Official Monitor Your Positions: cash balance, open positions, and total value, plus contracts held, average entry price, current market price, and potential payout on each open position. Official Glossary names position value as the real-time dollar value of those contracts. Those are the published names. The unmarked gap is what you read between average entry and current market (or position value versus what you paid). We do not reprint a live dollar on any of them.

Official Positions & Risk names Cost Basis as average entry price, total cost, and the input to unrealized P&L, and it names Realized P&L as profit or loss from closed positions. Official Valuation API returns unrealizedPnl on a position query. Official Place a Trade does not reprint those strings as a retail Profit tab. We will not paste an API field onto the US swipe. If the live row already prints P&L or Profit, follow that live text.

Official Place a Trade and Official Monitor Your Positions: positions update in real time as market prices change. Official Positions & Risk: positions are marked-to-market using current market prices on liquid instruments; unrealized P&L updates on that mark. Official How are Polymarket odds determined?: prices update whenever a buy or sell is matched, and Polymarket US does not set the price. Someone else’s print can move your gap while you sit still.

Official US market-book stats name lastTradePx as the most recent match on that market — anyone’s print. Official Valuation API names LAST as the last traded price and lists it as the default mark type on those valuation endpoints. Official Place a Trade does not reprint a retail column labelled “Last” or “Mark = LAST” on the swipe we checked. We will not invent one. If the live gap ticks when the last print ticks, that is the last-trade clock those pages already name.

Official Valuation API names MID as a mark type and defines that mid as (high + low) / 2. Official Spreads and Official Prices & Market Data name the bid, the ask, and the BBO — the book you can take now — not a retail column labelled “Mid.” We will not invent a Mid chip or claim the US app uses LAST versus MID. The action is the same: the gap can move when the last print moves or when the published mid / current-market mark moves. Confirm the live row.

Official Check Your Balance and Official Glossary: cash is the money not tied to any open position. Official Monitor Your Positions: cash is funds available to trade or withdraw. Official Check Your Balance: withdrawals come only from that cash — and only after the funding deposit has fully cleared. A green gap on the filled row is not that cash row.

Official “Can I sell early?”: you can close a position at any time; sale proceeds are added immediately to your cash balance. Official What is Polymarket US?: if prices move in your favor you can close early and take profits — that is a sale, not a mark. Official Spreads: a marketable sell is paid the bid, not last trade and not a mid you cannot lift. The fill can be worse than the gap on screen. That swipe lives on How to sell a Polymarket ticket early. This page only names why the mark is not yet cash.

Official Market Settlement: after the outcome is finalized, Polymarket Clearing marks winners $1.00 and losers $0.00 and updates Portfolio when settlement completes. Official Check Your Balance: proceeds from resolved markets return to cash automatically. Official Positions & Risk: a close records realized P&L; settlement determines the final figure. Event contracts can settle at zero. Potential payout on the open row is that upside if your side grades yes — not today’s withdrawable balance.

Official “Why does my position look down right after I buy?”: Polymarket US only fills whole contracts. Leftover dollars from a dollar-amount order return to cash, so Portfolio can show the position slightly down even though you did not take a market loss. That FAQ is not a live P&L we reprint, and it is not the same fact as last trade or mid rewriting the mark. Do not treat leftover dollars as realized cash gone.