Lucky or good?

I won the tournament this past weekend. Woohoo!!

That makes it the 4th time out of 12 tourneys this year that I've won. I believe I also finished once in 2nd and once in 3rd. In other words, half the time I'm winning a decent chunk of change. (I also won the points race this year for our TOC, which meant I won an extra 80 bucks) Not too shabby.

But 12 times is hardly a big enough sample size to prove my superior poker skills amongst my peers. Especially considering the fact that tourneys have escalating blinds that bring even more luck into the equation. Looking back, I've had my share of winning key races. With my chips on the line just this past Saturday my AJo hit an ace against pocket 9's to stay alive. My friend Dan can also attest to the fact that my baby pairs seem to hold up against his big slick every time. I can also recall that I've had my share of being sucked out on as well, but I will readily admit I've run quite good this past year, so I can't attribute my large amount of success to skill.

However, I can attribute some of my success to skill. Having finally read Harrington on Hold 'Em vol. 2 and getting some valuable free coaching from my friend Dan (an online MTT/STT specialist) really has helped my tournament game immensely. So while I know better to let my recent wins inflate my ego, I also know well enough to thank the people and sources for helping me put myself in a better odds position to get lucky. I look forward to this coming year's tourneys and even if I don't get quite so lucky, I do hope I play as well and improve.