Aggression

[PuppyFridayYall]

Aggression, a basic component of No Limit Hold 'Em and many other forms of poker, seems to me to be the key to either making or losing a lot of money. If you're aggressive in the right spots you'll make money. If you're aggressive in the wrong spots you'll lose money. To make the maximum amount of money, you should not only be aggressive in the right spots but also in the right way. For example, you have the nut flush and bet the perfect amount against your particular opponent in order to get him to call. The perfect amount is the maximum that he is willing to call because this amount gives you the most money. Most of the time this amount is very hard to judge. Another example of betting correctly is giving your opponent incorrect odds to draw out on you and yet coax him into calling, somehow.

Basically, I think that mastering something as basic as when to be aggressive and when it pays to be more passive could be one of the few keys to mastering No Limit Hold 'Em since this concept, if used correctly, will make you the maximum amount of money, and if used incorrectly, will cost you dearly.

Okay, so mastering aggression SOUNDS vague. But really, in No Limit Hold 'Em what is aggression? Betting. So if I master 1) when to bet and 2) how much to bet (bet sizing) I will have mastered aggression. 1 & 2 are obviously intertwined and that makes things more complicated.

A few questions:

Am I thinking on the right track?
How do I go about doing this?
Any good threads on this topic?