What kind of table image do you want? Is one best?

See subject. I got to thinking about this when I saw Fnord's comment elsewhere on this forum that he'd rather have a LAgg image at a table, than one of a tight player.

What table image is most profitable in the short and long term? My table image in my home games is basically a rock, or tight-aggressive, depending who I'm playing against. This image has served me well in this particular group, which is largely made up of other tight players. I feel like I can bluff any of them out of any pot as long as their hand isn't strong (trips or better). Any time I stay in a pot, raise, or re-raise, they have to respect it. The result has been that I actually bluff them a lot more than I used to, and more than I used to bluff in ANY game, but they're still largely unaware of it.

Online - which I am not playing currently, but have extensively in the past - my image ranges from loose-aggressive to absolute maniac. If I pull off a big bluff, I show it. On a small pot or small all-in, I'll call it down just to give the impression I love to gamble & love throwing money away. Sometimes I'll deliberately cultivate an insane table image by typing nonsense into the chat box and announcing blind all-ins and things like that. It's not just for fun (although it is a lot of fun)... it can also make money if you use it right. People never expect the maniac to have the goods. If you pull it back a few notches and start playing tight aggressive right when a good run of cards comes along, it can be exceedingly profitable.

So what do you think? Is it best to go one way or another, or (as I suspect) is it best to recognize your actual style, and then try to cultivate an image that helps you make money when you play "your way"?

Generally, the best table image to have is one that's contrary to how you usually play: if you're tight you want the table thinking you're a maniac, and if you splash around and steal a lot of pots, you'd like a tighter image but still with the action-giving loose image that'll inspire other players to gamble against you.

Mike Caro says LAgg gets the money in any game. You want them to call.

S&M say tight in a limit game, and LAgg in a no-limit game. I guess with betting so small compared to the pot, folding is the worse mistake often enough.

a tight image works for home games because u are playing with a certain group of people many times. in online poker u are everywhere and it is much easier to build the reputation of a maniac then a rock. basically for me tight = dont need cards to win, lose = need cards. for example as u said a rock can bluff people out because they ahve to respect the raise but a maniac needs to catch a big hand and get called by everyone because they think he's lose.