Me for one......I was like you back at the first of 2015. I had 4 - zeus blizzards.... and some success in mining. I saw SH and thought....why would I pay for that when I can use a number of "free" sites to keep up with and learn where to point my hash.
I moved on....and by spring I had bought a zeus thunder X6 (used). Looked at SH again and decided to try with my new found power (lol).

First I learned all the info on the free sites is pretty delayed or in some cases outright wrong, next I learned that the release of blocks on most coins is very random and sometimes hours go by with no blocks at all.....and miners are just hashing thin air.

All together block releases, network hashrate, difficulty and current coin price all have a bearing on guiding your choice. You know you can mine for now ( current values) or for the future....what you think a coin can or will become.



Smarterhash is NOT a pool....it's an information service that allows me to see, analyze and determine where I point my hash for the most benefit. It's up to me to decide.I can use his list of pools or there is info on many coins that a pool is not run on. Or, I can chose to mine the coin on any other pool. It's just more convienent usually to use of theirs.

But whatever, just don't put down what you don't know about.