user27847: I'm not interesting in mining myself, just interested in the topic.
I understand that you can still get bitcoin by contributing computation power to a pool (a company)

Does only one person/company receive the bitcoin reward every 10 minutes? So in 1 hour, only 6 individual/company gets the reward? It's a zero-sum game?
If #1 is true, doesn't that mean only the fastest/best machines has any chance of getting the reward?
If #1 and #2 are true, does that mean that mining without joining a pool is a futile effort for any average individual with average income because he cannot compete with pools and companies have more powerful computers?
if #1,2,3 are true, does that mean that the companies that sell mining computers/devices are marketed towards those who join pools rather than mine the network themselves?


user575: It's more like a lottery than like a race. Let's say one miner has 90% of the hashrate and another has 10%. It is not true that every 10 minutes the big miner will always win because he's faster. Rather, the big miner has 90% chance of winning and the small miner has 10% - in exact proportion to their hashrate (unless they carry out some sophisticated attacks).
As such, to compete you don't need a more powerful computer, but a more efficient one. If the computer is efficient enough, then you'll be profitable and what you'll get is exactly proportional to its power.

27847: <p>I'm not interesting in mining myself, just interested in the topic.
I understand that you can still get bitcoin by contributing computation power to a pool (a company)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Does only one person/company receive the bitcoin reward every 10 minutes? So in 1 hour, only 6 individual/company gets the reward? It's a zero-sum game?</p></li>
<li><p>If #1 is true, doesn't that mean only the fastest/best machines has any chance of getting the reward?</p></li>
<li><p>If #1 and #2 are true, does that mean that mining without joining a pool is a futile effort for any average individual with average income because he cannot compete with pools and companies have more powerful computers?</p></li>
<li><p>if #1,2,3 are true, does that mean that the companies that sell mining computers/devices are marketed towards those who join pools rather than mine the network themselves?</p></li>
</ol>
 575: <p>It's more like a lottery than like a race. Let's say one miner has 90% of the hashrate and another has 10%. It is not true that every 10 minutes the big miner will always win because he's faster. Rather, the big miner has 90% chance of winning and the small miner has 10% - in exact proportion to their hashrate (unless they carry out some sophisticated attacks).</p>

<p>As such, to compete you don't need a more powerful computer, but a more efficient one. If the computer is efficient enough, then you'll be profitable and what you'll get is exactly proportional to its power.</p>
