Regarding the value of PPS and pools, I'd like to say that Slush's pool is better than solo-mining.
Sometime within the last 24 hours, I found my first block on Slush's pool. My payout thus far is 50.06, and I have a confirmed+uncomfirmed total of just above .52.
That puts my payout/block at somewhere larger than the average block+fee payout.
And, I've paid Slush for the pool; plus spent/cashed in some of my bitcoins long before I found the block.
If I'd been solo mining all this time, I've have shut down long ago.
I'm not trying to fan the flames, but I did want to add my thanks to Slush for the pool and the effort.
Sometime within the last 24 hours, I found my first block on Slush's pool. My payout thus far is 50.06, and I have a confirmed+uncomfirmed total of just above .52.
That puts my payout/block at somewhere larger than the average block+fee payout.
And, I've paid Slush for the pool; plus spent/cashed in some of my bitcoins long before I found the block.
If I'd been solo mining all this time, I've have shut down long ago.
I'm not trying to fan the flames, but I did want to add my thanks to Slush for the pool and the effort.
Man, I've found two blocks already and have a total payout of just around 58 btc. But I'm still sticking with Slush because it's guaranteed income. Whereas as soon as I switch to solo mining my luck disappears and then it's two years before I find my next block....
I found only one block ever, and that was at Slush's pool. I'm up to about 110btc now. Not that surprising - solo variance is a bitch, and mining at a pool decreases it a lot. You could find 6 blocks and only have mined 50btc from a pool, or mine 300btc from a pool and not have a single block found. That's why we mine at pools.
