Newbie pool question

[specgamer]

I really want get into bitcoin mining. What's a good pool and how do I join?
Is cloud mining still reliable and secure?

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[cathoderay]

I really want get into bitcoin mining. What's a good pool and how do I join?
Is cloud mining still reliable and secure?

There are many pools out there to choose from but unfortunately, in reality, there are only a few pools that are trustworthy. Before choosing a pool to mine at, run a little check list:

Research the pool history thoroughly to ensure they are legit & safe.
Do they have fast, open & transparent support?
Do they provide support on this forum? (stay away from ticket systems)
Do they pay on time? (generally, stay away from PPS payout systems)
Is the pool OP trustworthy/reputable?
Is it stable?
Are miners there happy & helpful?

Also, biggest is not best, stay away from pools run by mining hardware manufacturers & help decentralise the network. Once you've made your informed choice, go to the pools home page here & all the instructions for joining will be there.

Good luck & be careful - it's a jungle out there......

[os2sam]

Do you have mining hardware?

[doggieTattoo]

I really want get into bitcoin mining. What's a good pool and how do I join?
Is cloud mining still reliable and secure?

Don't invest too much, its becoming more and more difficult to get much of a return from mining, and it will only get worse brother. 

[cshelswell]

Also you need to decide what you're going to mine. Stick with BTC or gamble on an Alt coin you can sell for BTC. When I was mining just over a year ago the only way I managed to ROI was to mine alts and sell them. Not sure how possible this still is?

[armedmilitia]

Hey there.

Whatever people say, never ever ever ever do cloudmining. Most of the companies out there (the ones with the best prices) are ponzi schemes. They have no farm and just pay out previously invested money until they inevitably collapse. Just look at PBMINING, GAW, or Lunamine.

Good mining pools (my top four in no particular order):

Westhash -- usually best payouts, lowest fees (sometimes pays more than it should), never have had to use support.
Nastypool (p2pool node) -- 0% fees, very good support (as the pool is pretty small), high variance though.
Slush pool -- 2% fee, high stability, very established. Also, the operator is the same guy who makes the Trezor.
Eligius -- clean interface, good stats monitoring, low fees. A good failover choice.

You do need specialized hardware to mine though. I can send you a block erupter via mail if you want it, just to get you started. It barely mines anything at this point, but its good to see how it works.

[cshelswell]

I'll second the above. Cloud mining is a terrible idea and unless you happen to be one of the few lucky ones, almost guaranteed to make you money disappear.

Probably quite literally after they close shop one night and run off!