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Answer: That's a very good question and like you said, it is very situation dependent. How I play my hand depends specifically on what I'm trying to accomplish. Let's go through a few examples of different goals with raises:

AA or KK preflop --- generally I would raise three or four times the big blind. My goal there is to just limit the field to one or two opponents. On the other hand if someone raised in front of me, I might intentionally throw them a curve ball by reraising more than I normally do or by reraising less (or maybe even just calling if I can get heads up).

AJ, 88, 99, TT, .. preflop --- for these other hands I will also raise the same amount preflop in good spots. Consistently raising around the same amount preflop each time can disguise what you really have. The opponents don't know if you have AA or 99; they'll have to pay to play. If someone raised in front of me and I had a hand like TT, my goal is probably to make it expensive for them to see the flop. If the flop came back with no Ace or King, my bet would be large enough to shut them out or make it incorrect for them to peal off a turn card (odds wise). You don't have to be exact.

Post Flop -- on the flop and after, normally a bet is half up to the same size as the pot. So for example, if I raised preflop to $20 and you called the pot would be somewhere in the range of $40. My flop bet would most likely be 20-40 bucks. If you called though, then the next bet would be even larger. Most no limit betting is based on the pot size as well as the amount of opponents in. In no limit cash games, usually the bet increases each betting round. Tournament play can differ some.

Draws -- if you are betting a draw in no limit your goal is usually to get the person out and not have them call (since usually draws are behind made hands like a pair). Because of this, if you are going to play, you play the draw like you would a normal hand. If you would normally bet $100 at this point if you had top pair, you would do the same with your draw in hopes to bet the person out and catch as a last resort. If someone bets into you and you have a flush or straight draw, you have to be careful in no limit since if you raise the other person has a chance to put all his chips in.

Good tournament players usually don't value draws much unless they are forced to play -- that's different then no limit cash games. In a cash game if you miss your draw you can pull out more money and keep playing, in the tourney you are out. This is why even calling with a 50/50 preflop makes most tourney players uncomfortable. You would much prefer to wait till your chances were better.

Sets And Made Hands -- with these hands your goal is to just bet in such a way that will get the most chips from the other players. How you do that will depend on how you have been betting before as well as how they play and what they have. Like I talked about in my intro to no limit cash games, I love little pocket pairs against most players. I call their raise in hopes to hit my set. If I do I'll call their bet and then pull the trigger on the turn card. Most likley this will be double whatever they bet (as long as it is a decent amount). So if they bet $100 on the turn, I would raise them to $200.

Online that has a pyschological affect too because people usually like completely their bet if they are aleady have in -- pressing that button doesn't seem so bad. You'll get called much more often if you just double whatever they bet. Then on the river if you are sure you have the best hand, you may just bet a decent amount that they can call. How much you bet on the river depends mainly on how likely you think it is that they will call. If you are sure they will call any amount, bet as much as you can. If you think they don't have more then a pair, just bet enough to get called (maybe $50 more in the above example).

The goal you should have as a good no limit player is to be able to manipulate the betting size to suit your needs for each situation. When I'm playing my best, when I make the most, I've found just the right mixture of betting sizes that confuses my opponents and makes them lose more chips then they should. Limit holdem doesn't offer the ability to really screw with your opponents heads but no limit does. You can use your bets to provoke and trip up your opponents.

For example, I love to bet a certain way for a while and then switch gears and really underbet a pot on a later round into an aggressive player. They take that little change in style as a sign that I'm bluffing (in a weak way) so they raise me a bunch and I go all-in. Or sometimes I'll do the opposite and go all-in in a weird place with a really good hand. That confuses people because they don't think you'll bet that much and risk them folding so some players will actually call you with less (especially if you have shown a bluff before).

So the goal isn't to be a rigid bettor like some people say, but to have a dynamic betting style. This is why I encourage players if they play online to just double the big blind when they come in on a lot of hands that don't warrant a raise. You risk just a little but it confuses the hell out of people and they don't understand that you actually do know how to play.

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