Ladies Tournament Part 2

Is it luck? Is it skill? These are the two questions about poker I hear the most. Even after last night, I'm still not sure.

I am now officially at a 67% cash rate in the Island Casino ladies-only tournament. I have played in all six. I have 3 first places and 1 second place. My most recent win was yesterday. After the first 15 minutes I had a ton of chips. The first came on a "lucky" hand when I had J-9 and my opponent had J-K and the flop was J-10-J. We both had trips, but I caught my 9 on the turn and took most of her chips. That was lucky because I was way behind. I had a few hands like this. I was also fortunate enough to have K-K and 10-10 hold up.

At the final table, however, my "luck" deserted me until I was forced to go all-in with suited connectors, 8-7 diamonds. Both of my opponents had big aces and an ace fell on the flop. There was also a seven on the flop and I was "lucky" again by hitting another 7 on the river to scoop the pot. It was on to first place from there.

I must admit that I had a LOT of luck in last night's tournament. At the same time I opted to go all-in with the 8-7 suited with two players raising in front of me because I put them on big cards and hoped that they had each other's outs. I do not know if the other players would think of things like that. Is that skill? Or is it still luck? Questions abound. Nonetheless, it's always fun to win, whether it be skillfully or luckily. :)