I feel whenever I do well it's 100% pure luck.
Luck will remain a factor, sure, but not an absolute one. If you are really good, you can cut it down to about 20%. Of course, skillful use of your flippers is key, but having and knowing your primary goals is equally important. Playing just for playing's sake will raise the luck factor up to a generic level, close to the one you described.
For me it's like 40%. To bring luck down to this passable degree, I only played further, if I got the tower-stopper with my first ball. Then I simply played the lowest table till I had the 100 x 9 bonus on the playfield, which alone grants you 10 million upon the final billing. That was the first and most important tactic.
Second was to avoid entering any bonus rooms, because they are very difficult to handle, with luck percentages way above 50%, grant you a poor point gros and eliminate all of your your stoppers in return. Third was to destroy the wooden gate and later the knights that keep blocking the orbit up to the top table. There, I played mostly for the special points.