My method is similar to the one CornStalks mentioned, with minor differences.

For simple single-line statements, I'd go without brackets:

if(...) //simple single-line statement
if(...) //simple single-line statement

But if they are chained ('else-if' or 'else'), I make the entire chain use brackets:

if(...)
{
    //...more complex statements....
}
else if(...)
{
    //...more complex statements....
}

If an 'if' is stand-alone, but is multi-lined, or even single-lined but cluttered, I'll fully brace it.
Or, even if the statement itself is simple, but the conditional is more complex, I'd brace it.

if(x == foo && y == (N - 7)
|| z == PI)
{
    //Fully braced, because of non-simple conditional.
}

I personally find the second style incredibly difficult to read at more than 1 indentation level because when identifying blocks of code I visually match the opening and closing brace; having them lined up in the same column is essential to me.

I value that over vertical real-estate any day; plus with Visual Studio you can auto-hide all the little pop-up panels anyway, which - when coupled with the fact that larger monitors are quite cheap these days - somewhat lessens the arguments in favour of the second.

if( sOpinionQuery == "curly_braces_style_preference" )
{
	gamedev.curThread.post( this );
	gamedev.curThread.value += 0.02; // my two cents.
	gamedev.desiredFeatures += "forum polls";
}
else
	OneLiner();

Using the first style makes you a better coder since less code fits on the screen so you have to write more concise code and break functions into pieces earler :p

(I prefer the first style mainly out of habit but always adapt to existing codebases)

What about using the best of both worlds?

int  doSomething(int x)
{     int y;
      // ... do complex operation
      return y;
}

      

This can be tedious to format if you don't have smart tabbing functionality (though I agree this is a weak argument). But it just looks so wroooooooooooong...

Personally I've always used the first style because it is much more consistent to me, and clearly delimits scopes. Sure, it might take up a few more lines of code, but the curly braces are neatly on the same indentation level, rather than having one of the curly braces placed at the end of an arbitrarily long statement.

I also like the Python way - do away with curly braces altogether - though it brings its own set of issues (is this a tab or a space?)

This is kind of a subjective opinion, though, and it's best to go with what is already being used in the codebase since having two or more different coding styles competing with each other can be very frustrating. Though if you are starting a new project, you should definitely use the first style the style you and your team prefer.

Personally I prefer the second style because it's the style I was trained with and I always feel 'jarred' when I see a whole line used up by an open brace. It just makes me want to scream 'Mottainaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!'

That said, when alone you do what you want. When you work with others do what they do.

Actually, though. I do have one 'odd' habit that would probably get me smacked by some people.

if(condition) {
 //dostuff on more
 //than one line
}

vs

if(condition) {/*dostuff in one line*/}

I never use 'braceless' blocks. To me it's just begging for trouble. On the other hand, I'll use that second style there so long as it doesn't make the longer than about 60 characters.

Oh, that's another thing. I'll break up compound statements to try to keep every line shorter than a certain length so that I don't have to mess with horizontal scrolling.