Alright so this is just some insight from a beginning to a beginner.

[Sonya]

Let me start of by stating that I am still fairly new to this, and no doubt still I have much to learn. Okay now that that's out of the way. A few things I've learned is do some reasearch. Try different pools to see for yourself, the fees seem to vary from pool to pool. Don't believe everything you read; just because you see more glowing reviews than nasty comments..

Each pool and each user's needs differ; an advanced member may be making their mortgage payment from just a few days worth of mining; but these people have been doing this a while and THs upon THs. You on the other hand just broke the bank and maybe starting with a few GH..

 Anyway since February.. I've tried several pools and this what I've learnt. (keep in mind I'm still a beginner with just a measly 49 GHs).




BTCGuild  38 hours 35 shifts, 49,328 difficulty 32/64 shares.. earning .00148993

eclipse.. start time 2:22 am.. starting balance: .00000256 around 11,000 shares varied difficulty..

ending balance just before switching to cex-io 0.00102356.. just shy of 14 hours

let's throw cex.io in the mix.. i have earned the least from them but - will give it another shot

and just for good measure.. slush's pool might be great if you have the GHs

[BitsBitsBits]

Not sure where you are going with this but I remember mining on slushs pool and having some coins there but the minimum withdraw amount was 0.01 back then if I recall correctly. Anyone know if this has changed?

[notlist3d]

Let me start of by stating that I am still fairly new to this, and no doubt still I have much to learn. Okay now that that's out of the way. A few things I've learned is do some reasearch. Try different pools to see for yourself, the fees seem to vary from pool to pool. Don't believe everything you read; just because you see more glowing reviews than nasty comments..

Each pool and each user's needs differ; an advanced member may be making their mortgage payment from just a few days worth of mining; but these people have been doing this a while and THs upon THs. You on the other hand just broke the bank and maybe starting with a few GH..

 Anyway since February.. I've tried several pools and this what I've learnt. (keep in mind I'm still a beginner with just a measly 49 GHs).




BTCGuild  38 hours 35 shifts, 49,328 difficulty 32/64 shares.. earning .00148993

eclipse.. start time 2:22 am.. starting balance: .00000256 around 11,000 shares varied difficulty..

ending balance just before switching to cex-io 0.00102356.. just shy of 14 hours

let's throw cex.io in the mix.. i have earned the least from them but - will give it another shot

and just for good measure.. slush's pool might be great if you have the GHs

f here are difficulty changes during your mining that will effect your results.  Also I might suggest looking at pool types.  For example BTCGuild "luck" plays a factor you could hit it on good or bad day on solving.

[DrG]

All the pools basically employee a similar system of counting your work.  All the pools more or less have the see fees.

You can use CGMiner and have it submit work to multiple pools (load balance) and that would lower the influence of variance.  This might be painful if you have a low hashrate though since it might take a while to be able to reach the minimum cashout.

[BigMac]

Also I might suggest looking at pool types.  For example BTCGuild "luck" plays a factor you could hit it on good or bad day on solving.

Unless the pool pays you in PPS (not really a good idea indeed), "pool luck" always plays a factor on your daily revenue.
Also, the luck should even out in the long term.

[BigMac]

Not sure where you are going with this but I remember mining on slushs pool and having some coins there but the minimum withdraw amount was 0.01 back then if I recall correctly. Anyone know if this has changed?

Nope, the minimum cashout threshold is still at 0.01 btc.

[dothebeats]

Well "luck" plays a vital role in the mining industry. And also, the type of pool that you're mining from greatly affects your earnings. If a pool gave you more bitcoins than the last pool you've mined doesn't mean that that pool could maintain that in the long run. Due to the fluctuation of difficulty, it's really hard to calculate your earnings. It's hardly based on the "luck" of the pool.