Easy Q: how many hands played until BB/100 is reliable??

[teddyFBI]

I'm sure it's an elementary question, but roughly how many hands do I need to play before putting some reliable stock in my BB/100.

I routinely chastise people who draw conclusions based on only 10,000 - 20,000 hands, but the reality is that I'm just talking out of my ass, and don't have any clue about what the 'true' number should be.

Can anyone provide a mathematically-based answer? i.e. maybe with a range of hands-played and their associated confidence intervals?

[LetYouDown]

Should help (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=probability&Number=192 2208&Forum=,All_Forums,&Words=&Searchpage=0&Limit= 25&Main=1921919&Search=true&where=&Name=197&datera nge=&newerval=&newertype=&olderval=&oldertype=&bod yprev=#Post1922208)

[teddyFBI]

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Should help (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=probability&Number=192 2208&Forum=,All_Forums,&Words=&Searchpage=0&Limit= 25&Main=1921919&Search=true&where=&Name=197&datera nge=&newerval=&newertype=&olderval=&oldertype=&bod yprev=#Post1922208)

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Thanks for the link -- a little too complicated for me, i found -- is there a quick 'rule of thumb' as far as a threshold for # of hands before judging BB/100 to be reliable?

[meow_meow]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Should help (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=probability&Number=192 2208&Forum=,All_Forums,&Words=&Searchpage=0&Limit= 25&Main=1921919&Search=true&where=&Name=197&datera nge=&newerval=&newertype=&olderval=&oldertype=&bod yprev=#Post1922208)

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Thanks for the link -- a little too complicated for me, i found -- is there a quick 'rule of thumb' as far as a threshold for # of hands before judging BB/100 to be reliable?

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The problem with your question is two-fold. First, you need to define "reliable". Second, the confidence interval of winrate is dependant on two factors - the number of hands played and the standard deviation.