It depends on how long I want my money to last, or better way of saying I guess would be how many spins I want to get. If I'm only going to play one slot, then I like to at least get 100 or so spins, maybe 200 on it. So I divide my money accordingly.
That being said increasing or lowering the bet won't directly effect (affect??) you winning or losing. If I was you I would go in and bet whatever you're comfortable with losing. If you want to get plenty of play time I would adjust the bet.
All of that aside my bet ranges from .01 <~~~yes I go there sometimes, to the maybe $ 15.00 or so. I can't recall the exact max bet I've made on a slot machine. My poison of choice is normally roulette, and I've done $100 number bets, spread between up to 9 numbers or so.
Some of the crazy bets was exactly why I had to walk a way for a while, as things got out of hand, and lower bet sizes lost their appeal. I remember Chuchu telling me, to be careful as that would happen. Sadly I mentally dismissed what he stated, then shortly later I found myself in the exact position he described. Feeling it necessary to bet big, in order to achieve that same "feeling" I use to get when betting .20 cents and winning 5 bucks.
Don't get sucked into that. Wins are nice, but loses are worst.