Can someone please explain to me why miners choose to solo mine Bitcoin to a personal Bitcoin node that they setup themselves rather than a pool, is there any advantages to doing this?
Those who do this as a hobby, pet or side project are those who will be likely into solo mining. They may also 100% of the rewards to themselves without wanting to share with other.
With solo mining you are less likely to get scammed unlike in pool mining where if you join a shady pool, you may not make the pay out to your wallet. So this point is that the fear of getting scammed maybe as a result of previous experience may make people choose solo mining.