[Ghazban]

Image plays are vastly overrated for a few reasons. One is that, for the image play even to exist, you have to show the hand down. If you raise your A8s UTG and end up folding before the river, you gain nothing in advertising value but still lose the money you put into the pot.

Another is that image players only work on medium-strength opponents. A good player will notice that your one advertising hand was a deviation from your normal playing style and correctly come to the conclusion that you were advertising. A bad player won't even notice you did it because he can't remember who raised preflop in the hand he's currently playing, let alone whether or not you raised a marginal hand in bad position half an hour ago. You need players that are good enough to notice the play but bad enough to not recognize that you might have been making an image play.

Finally, player turnover in a game kills advertising benefits. If you make an advertising play and everyone who was at the table when you made it leaves within an hour, you probably didn't gain enough image for your dollar. This is particularly noticeable online where players are constantly switching tables.