If your start 9 is synced I think you can also spin up a “public pool” instance which connects to your own node and lottery mine against that.
Could you explain a bit more on how to set that up? I’m still very much a noob and figuring all this jargon out
What about using ocean?
Ocean is good - I had my start9 core lightning setup against ocean for smaller payouts. Again, it’s a collaborative payout pool. You might think you’ll get extra “credit” for hitting a block but not the case.