do you vary your bet size?

[elmitchbo]

i was reading the responses to the 'theory of top set' post. some very interesting comments there. one that stuck out was "first, try and do whatever is consistent with what you would do with a lesser hand." that is, don't give away the strength of your hand by doing something unusual.

that got me thinking about another topic that has troubled me lately. after reading HOH i tried to start varying my bet size for awhile, but it didn't seem right to me. i've always been inclined to make the same size bets in most stituations because i think it's harder to read, and i think the comment from the other post(made by Tilt) supports my thinking.

if you always make a half pot size bet on the flop how can your opponent ever know if your leading out with top set or making a continuation bet with nothing? further more, if you make the same play as a semi-bluff with a strong draw it makes it even mroe difficult for opponenets to put you on a hand.

on the other hand, if i vary my bets i feel that i can't make them random enough to not give away info. that might be paranoia on my part but i always think "he knows i'm trapping because i bet less,' or 'he knows i hit my TPTK and i'm trying to defend it by betting more.'

what do you guys think? do you stick with a standard bet or do you try to mix it up?

last, is this a read dependent thing(most things are)? do you bump your bets up or down based on what you think your opponenet will or will not call? if you do that don't you give away info to players that aren't in the hand?