"does size matter?" -> will bigger pools pay off more?

[Olli Matrix]

Hi,

I have been mining for a couple of days now, and since deepbit got way out of hand (more then 50% of the network) and slush gives me way more stale shares, I want to switch to a different pool.

I am signed up on one right now, that has 17 other workers mining, 2 of those are from me. Each of my miner's hashrate is above the average hashrate of every miner in the pool.

I already have a couple of hundred shares with them... But I wonder if my payout per share will be different at all.
This new pool doesn't show my the exact balance, only 2 digits after the dot.


So my question is:
Will I get more BTC for my Hashrate on a bigger pool, where my hashrate is just a tiny percentage of the total pool's hashrate?
Or will I get more BTC for my Hashrate on a smaller pool, where my hashrate is quite a big chunk of the total pool's hashrate?


Intuitively I would say bigger pools are better - because otherwise I might as well be mining by myself, right?

Also I found this article, couldn't quite find an answer between the lines, though...
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_pool_reward_FAQ

Another thought I have is, that on a bigger pool, with more hashpower, the likelyness to find a block is much much higher, therefore each share I make is a bigger chunk of the 50BTC that one block will give, right?
While in a smaller pool it takes forever to find a block, and 1 share is worth very little, because so many shares were needed to find the block and generate 50BTC.

But then again I am not even really sure, what a share is... These guy's who invented this whole system were way too smart! ^^

Alright I hope you guys have some enlightning comments for me... And I hope I am not wasting hours of my time on the little pool right now

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Basically, bigger pool = more steady reward

Another thought I have is, that on a bigger pool, with more hashpower, the likelyness to find a block is much much higher, therefore each share I make is a bigger chunk of the 50BTC that one block will give, right?
While in a smaller pool it takes forever to find a block, and 1 share is worth very little, because so many shares were needed to find the block and generate 50BTC.

As long as you're contributing the same amount of shares all the time, you will get the same amount of BTC regardless of round length.

By the way: in theory, it is possible to get full 50 BTC (minus pool fees) for a block if you happen to solve it with your first share before anyone else can get it 

[lolcat]

Smaller Pools give bigger payouts but less frequent

Bigger pools give smaller payouts but more frequent

in theory the pools would pay the same over an acceptable length of time

If you are a small miner (less than 100Mhash) Smaller pools would be better for you as you can submit more shares before a block is solved and new work is issued. For example if you are a CPU miner on DeepBit you might not even be able to submit a share on a quick block meaning no payout for you.


Best bet is a smaller pools low or 0% fees.

[mrblu]

Depends if your pool is lucky or not.

[supersonic3974]

The Eclipse Mining Consortium is where I do my mining.  It's run by a great guy and is a medium sized pool (60 Gh/s).  There are no fees involved and he has a lot of cool features set up like email and sms alerts.  Using my 600Mh/s I made 1 BTC in the last two days! 

[Reuef]

I would have to also say I use Eclipse Mining.  I have made over 6 btc from them in the past 4 days.  The block may take a couple days to get but the rewards are much better with a smaller pool.  Then again our luck has been pretty good.

-Reuef

[supersonic3974]

Lol yeah, getting 0.5 BTC in an hour was awesome. 

[Maxim Gladkov]

I am currently mining 0.8-0.9 in hour... And it's NOT OK!

[supersonic3974]

I am currently mining 0.8-0.9 in hour... And it's NOT OK!

I wish the 0.5BTC was hourly, I'm afraid that was a rare occurrence. Who are you mining with?

[igl00]

imo the faster pool then better