There has always been a fascination with trading spreads...There are some aspects of spreads that vary dramatically depending upon which markets you are actually trading...For instance, in the OEX where the indicies have a very large skew to the put side, many novices will trade into a bear spread and see the actual underlying trade thru their spread without seeing a maximum profit potential until the final days of expiration...
Also, there are many who will watch a very profitable position deteriorate to nothing in the final days of the expiration cycle...Or worse yet, the premium sellers will try and squeeze a few more pennies out of what appear to be very probable price containment only to get run over by the gamma train in the final days of the expiration cycle...
There are no easy answers to the options equation...Like every other security, they require constant adjustment, constant profit taking or spreading, etc...I have seen alot of people get involved with options, put the trade on and turn off their brain...Many options trades show nice profits for many traders, yet many will watch them evaporate in the final days of an expiration cycle...
I know, I speak from experience...