<p>As <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/users/575/meni-rosenfeld">Meni</a> said in the comments above, "<em>you can drastically increase your profit by <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/5072/5851">pool-hopping</a>,</em>" which has a very different pool selection criteria. </p>

<p>However, this is a much less reputable method than sticking with a single pool, and requires much more <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/1639/5851">math</a> (not to mention the existence of naively vulnerable pools) in order to be successful.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-13T06:11:47.237Z
The majority of pools use one of the hopping-proof schemes. Meni wrote [a paper](https://bitcoil.co.il/pool_analysis.pdf) about it, actually.
Nick ODell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-13T04:42:55.260Z
2013-07-13T04:42:55.260Z
2017-04-13T12:47:33.583Z
Griffin
<p>Mining is a zero sum game so pool size has no effect other than to reduce variance not average payout.  Your goal would be to acheive 100% of fair value per share.</p>

<p>Some factors:</p>

<ul>
<li>Inclusion of block fees.  While small pools which keep block fees
result in lower payout than solo mining.</li>
<li>Merged mining.  Currently adds a roughly 5% bonus relative to BTC only mining.</li>
<li>Hop proof <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/375/5851">reward algorithm</a>.  Proportional pools are vulnerable to pool hopping.  As mining is a zero sum game anything pool hopper's gain 24/7 miners lose.</li>
<li>Pool fees.  Any fee paid to pool reduces revenue per share relative to solo mining.</li>
<li>Pool efficiency.  This one is tough because pool source code is often closed source.  If pool has a bug which results in extra 1% stale shares then that in effect is a 1% hidden fee.</li>
<li>Pool uptime.  A pool with 0.5% downtime is in effect costing you a 0.5% fee.  This can be partially mitigated by using miner which supports backup server.</li>
<li>Pool latency.  The slower communication is between you and pool
server the greater percentage of shares which will be lost as stale
in a block change.  Part of this is due to server resource
limitations but some of this also comes from geo-location.  If your
miners are located in China a pool which only has a server on East
Coast US ISP is going to have a longer than average latency.</li>
</ul>

<p>So the most efficient pool would be one that includes transactions fee, charges no pool fee, has low latency connection to your miners, offers merged mining, has high uptime, and has no hidden back end bugs which reduce efficiency of shares.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T18:54:45.123Z
Maybe it goes without saying, but "no losses from pool-hopping" should be on the list.
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T19:34:39.197Z
@MeniRosenfeld  Good point.
DeathAndTaxes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-13T04:28:16.933Z
It would be helpful if you linked "reward algorithm" to here: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/375/5851
Griffin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T17:39:43.773Z
2013-07-13T04:53:41.473Z
2017-04-13T12:47:33.583Z
DeathAndTaxes
<p>Say I have a moderate amount of hashing power and I want to maximize my profit by using the pool that would give the best rewards for mining with them, what should I look at when choosing a pool?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T18:50:02.263Z
You can drastically increase your profit by pool-hopping, is that within the scope of the question?
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T18:53:57.683Z
Since profits are random, you can't "maximize your profits", you can maximize some combination of expectation, variance, maturity time, etc. If you don't care much about variance and maturity time you should focus on the expectation.
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T19:32:38.197Z
I`d prefer some normal comparison of pools, rather than how to pool-hop, as it is considered "cheating".

By profit I mean maximizing expectation, while leaving the other two at reasonable range (for example, solo mining would not be considered a good option, as it has a very big variance).
ThePiachu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-14T22:00:19.327Z
This question is very localized in time. Things such as fees and support for various features will change very often so I feel like closing this question. Thoughts?
D.H.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-15T06:11:05.577Z
@D.H. Maybe the question should be edited to "how to choose the most profitable pool?". Any specific recommendations are likely to be subjective anyway.
Meni Rosenfeld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-11-15T06:48:36.190Z
Okay, edited my question.
ThePiachu
<mining-pools><mining-profitability><pool-payout-methods>
How to choose the most profitable pool?
ThePiachu
# How to choose the most profitable pool?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-11-14)

Say I have a moderate amount of hashing power and I want to maximize my profit by using the pool that would give the best rewards for mining with them, what should I look at when choosing a pool?

**Tags:** mining-pools, mining-profitability, pool-payout-methods

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You can drastically increase your profit by pool-hopping, is that within the scope of the question?  
> **username_1**: Since profits are random, you can't "maximize your profits", you can maximize some combination of expectation, variance, maturity time, etc. If you don't care much about variance and maturity time you should focus on the expectation.  
> **username_0**: I`d prefer some normal comparison of pools, rather than how to pool-hop, as it is considered "cheating".  By profit I mean maximizing expectation, while leaving the other two at reasonable range (for example, solo mining would not be considered a good option, as it has a very big variance).  
> **username_2**: This question is very localized in time. Things such as fees and support for various features will change very often so I feel like closing this question. Thoughts?  
> **username_1**: @D.H. Maybe the question should be edited to "how to choose the most profitable pool?". Any specific recommendations are likely to be subjective anyway.  
> **username_0**: Okay, edited my question.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2011-11-14. Score: 13 | Accepted answer

Mining is a zero sum game so pool size has no effect other than to reduce variance not average payout. Your goal would be to acheive 100% of fair value per share.

Some factors:

* Inclusion of block fees. While small pools which keep block fees
  result in lower payout than solo mining.
* Merged mining. Currently adds a roughly 5% bonus relative to BTC only mining.
* Hop proof [reward algorithm](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/375/5851). Proportional pools are vulnerable to pool hopping. As mining is a zero sum game anything pool hopper's gain 24/7 miners lose.
* Pool fees. Any fee paid to pool reduces revenue per share relative to solo mining.
* Pool efficiency. This one is tough because pool source code is often closed source. If pool has a bug which results in extra 1% stale shares then that in effect is a 1% hidden fee.
* Pool uptime. A pool with 0.5% downtime is in effect costing you a 0.5% fee. This can be partially mitigated by using miner which supports backup server.
* Pool latency. The slower communication is between you and pool
  server the greater percentage of shares which will be lost as stale
  in a block change. Part of this is due to server resource
  limitations but some of this also comes from geo-location. If your
  miners are located in China a pool which only has a server on East
  Coast US ISP is going to have a longer than average latency.

So the most efficient pool would be one that includes transactions fee, charges no pool fee, has low latency connection to your miners, offers merged mining, has high uptime, and has no hidden back end bugs which reduce efficiency of shares.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Maybe it goes without saying, but "no losses from pool-hopping" should be on the list.  
> **username_5**: @username_1  Good point.  
> **username_3**: It would be helpful if you linked "reward algorithm" to here: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/375/5851  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-07-13. Score: 0

As [username_1](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/users/575/username_1-username_1) said in the comments above, "*you can drastically increase your profit by [pool-hopping](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/5072/5851),*" which has a very different pool selection criteria.

However, this is a much less reputable method than sticking with a single pool, and requires much more [math](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/1639/5851) (not to mention the existence of naively vulnerable pools) in order to be successful.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: The majority of pools use one of the hopping-proof schemes. username_1 wrote [a paper](https://bitcoil.co.il/pool_analysis.pdf) about it, actually.  

---

