Am I a "good" poker player?

I played poker with my brothers and friends as a kid - initially 5 card draw and eventually 7 card stud. When I got older I played occassionally with friends and eventually started playing in a monthly poker game where I was introduced to "dealers choice". In this game I started to understand the different versions of poker including hold'em, guts, no peeky, follow the lady and a bunch of others. Some ex-marines played in this game and they always seemed to have new variations of games they had played in the forces. Every month I would learn new games and often I would come out a winner. So yes, I am and always have been a good poker player.

Prior to 2007 I knew very little about position, pot odds, implied odds, semi-bluff, stealing or re-stealing and certainly would not have applied any of thise terms to poker. I would not have thought maths was a huge part of poker. The "skill" involved would be knowing to play high cards and getting lucky on the flop or going all-in with whatever and hoping the other player fold. This "skill" was moderately successful but obviously in the poker world I would be caleld a "fish" and easy takings for someone who has played for a while. So no, at least up until this year I was not a good poker player.

What makes you good at poker anyhow? I play occassionally with friends who have kids that re very lucky and often win the money in our little poker games. Does that mean they are good? Are they good by intent or just willing to gamble and get lucky. I figure the only way to know if I have become a good poker player is to play it for a living and see if I can make some money. A positive cashflow will indicate I have become good at the game. Anything else means I am still training to become a good poker player

Of course I might be training for a very long time!!