[jjshabado]

[ QUOTE ]
[*]A little image goes a long way. It's ok to start out a little overaggressive. If you mess around a bit early, a lot of people will start thinking of you as 'that crazy guy' at the other end of the table. Tighten up after your first few orbits and the image will stay.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think I agree with this. I think you generally want to be seen as tight. You've basically got two types of players at the table (this is clearly a generalization):

1. Loose, [censored], oblivious players
2. Thinking opponents. These might be good or bad, but generally tighter than the players above. Often the players that pay attention are actually weak-tight (they know playing 'loose' is bad and pride themselves on making good folds).

So your image is meaningless against 1. They don't pay attention, and play mostly their cards. You could fold for 2 hours and they'll still call your big bet. Against these players, playing more aggressively then you think is best is just a waste of money. They'll pay you off all night long regardless of how you've been playing.

Against the number two type you probably want to be seen as tight. It lets you more easily isolate the really weak and profitable players. Also if you find yourself only against the weak-tight players you can steal pretty easily if you've built up a nice tight image.