how many hands before i can make a decision?

i play micro limit poker 10 man ring games,i have just started about 3-4 days ago ,about 3 hrs a day ,my plan is to play 6000 hands and then see where i am (up or down) before i move up a limit,is this enough hands to play make an informed choice?? ,i played mtts and stts for years and it was simple enough ,you finished when you were eliminated or won.there was no choice ,you could often end up playing for hours longer than you wanted initially.but in a cash game after a few hours (2-3)if im up i will often get out ,(but im new to ring games i only play 2 tables) also i play on the ipoker network on paddy power ,i would really like someone who has experience of ring games to look at my stats after 6000 hands and appraise my game ,(i expect it to be pretty awful) but is 6000 enough.should i be playing longer . i play FL so i cant find any threads that apply ,anyone who can help with my experiment and guide me or appraise my stats please contact me here or pm me . thanks jack

I think 5,000 or more hands is sufficient to give you a general idea of your winrate. But your numbers won't be really solid until 10K or 20K hands. And if your game is fluctuating (ie, you are still adjusting your style), then it might take even more hands before you get a valid number.

Edit: Also, if you're thinking about moving up to the next level, you should have a solid winrate at your current level, and also a bankroll that gives you enough buy-ins at the new level to succeed. Most people shoot between 20 and 40 buy-ins, depending on how conservative your bankroll management.

Id say 30K hands as a bare minimum

Given your stated conditions, 6000 hands will give you an idea, but will not be accurate enough to make serious decisions with.

Are you tracking these hands with something like PT3 or HEM? With your mindset (gleaned from your post), either of these will help you find, and then possibly fix, leaks in your game.

not been tracking results ,i thought if after a month or so im doing ok i would move up very slightly and get pt3 or HEM. basically it would be nice to sit down with a good limit player and get an appraisal on how i play , i kinda feel that after a month or so if im seriously down then try another route but if my win rate is ok then take it a little more seriously and get software ,

That seems like a sensible way to get into it.

You will find you need a lot of hands before you you can really analise your play so IMO 30K.

The next thing I'm going to say will sound kind of counter intuitive.. winning money and playing good poker are not directly linked.

Over a few thousand hands you may win money yet play bad poker. The opposite is also true.. you may loose money whilst playing correctly.

However over a larger sample of hands a good player will always win money.. thats why you need a lot of ands before you can analise it.

Another thing is that some multitablers here are clocking up 4K+ hands a day so 20, 30k hands arnt that many.. I know it seems a lot.. but it isn't.

So yeah get PT3 or HEM and just play.. get the experience in and start analyzing your play in a few months time when the sample is bigger thus giving a truer indication of where you are.

Best of luck.