Right right. I understand that all, mostly.

So, what if you are not using a "solo pool"; such as ck and literally mining to a full mining node.........you know what......nevermind. I think it's more trouble than it's worth to go down this route of FULL blown solo mining.

I think MAYBE it might be worth allocating a % of hashrate to a smaller pool or something and ultimately this is what I'm exploring: alternative ways of mining as opposed to 100% PPLNS pool mining.

Any good threads or links you know of about alternative mining strategies? Either way , thank you for your input on this.