In a game, there a several, or rather a fuckload of possible scenarios. As we improve at a game, we get better at predicting what will happen. This is because your influence over what will happen in the game is increased, and therefore you are more capable of predicting what will happen. If you have more influence over the game than your opponent, you will be able to reign victorious. If you are better, to put it shortly, you are the one controlling what happens. To the best of your ability, at least. To predict the outcome however, not only must we have influence in the game, we must know exactly how much influence we have. Roughly, anyway. Each person has different experiences and finds different playstyles, things they think work etc. As far as I'm concerned, I have found a few things that I think are necessary in having as best control of an outcome possible.

. Having money

In any situation, I would say that having money is beneficial. If a person could show me a counterexample, I would be impressed.

. Looking good

Not as universal as money, though almost always a bonus.

Let me know if you want some more thoughts.

Edit: I'm bad at editing