I have played poker for a number of years
 

Hi all,
I have played poker for a number of years and pretty much know the general rules. The question I have though is about betting, which I havnt done much of. Ok, lets say we are playing Hold'em and I have a sweet hand. A player before me bets his last chip and cant go any harder but I want to. What happens? I am thinking I can only bet up to see his bet and everyone else can only do the same. Is this right? Pretty simple question I know but like I said I am only new to the betting side of it and any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.

It depends. In No limit, if the bettor is making the initial action, your action is not constrained at all. If he is raising your bet, he must complete a legal minimum raise for it to be considered anything other than a call.

example: On the turn you bet 300 into a 500 pot, a player behind you calls and the short stack goes all-in for 500. Now you cannot raise because his all-in is less than a minimum raise. had you bet 200 and been called, then his 500 would be a raise and would re-open the betting.

In limit poker, as long as the all-in is at least 50% of a full bet, you can complete the full bet and raise another unit.

How does one play poker without betting?

That one is above my pay grade. ;)

Not right. In No Limit you can bet as much as you like so that the others following will have to call, fold or raise you more. If one of the players to act after you calls your raise then a side-pot is created. If nobody else calls then your bet is chopped down to the size of your opponent's all in bet. You can't make somebody risk more than what they have on the table.

What's a sweet hand?

Ugh.

It would be nice if these annoying sig-spammers who have been joining lately (and I assume this is yet another one) could at least fake having some sort of idea WTF they are talking about.

And at least post your dumb thread in the right sections.

*sigh*