Beginer at backgammon

[Shymon]

hi yet another beginer backgammon post (yes i can see you all rolling your eyes). anyways i just wanted to make sure i am on a decent road to getting better with what i am doing right now, and if any of you have advice let me know.

i play on gammonempire for play money and recently very low stakes ($3 7 point matches usually). basicly aginst GNU and when i reveiw my matches on it i play at about -12 (snowie error rate) on a bad day and -8 or -7 on a good one. Is this basicly terrible? (GNU grades HARD by the way). i only ask beacuse i can crush almost any game at the play money level as the players (even the higher rated ones) seem to have error rates at about 15-17 range (they are picticularly bad with the cube in general). and so far the 1500 player range in low stakes doesn't seem much better (i haven't seen anyone with a -10 or below in the limited matches i have played). Does anyone know aproximately what error rates people will have at the higher rankings on gammon empire or does it vary alot? and lastly am i just fooling myself into thinking i am not bad at BG (at least, call it 1600-1700 equivelent in say chess ratings)?

also, with any thoughts on proper BG bankroll management? about how many points should a player who is typically better then his foes (assume good game selection for the sake of arguement) have on hand?

oh and ps. Robertie i owe you a beer if i ever see you for writing 501 bg probs (with the money won from bg no less).