How to use "skills" in a sentence

With that attitude plus a few money-management skills, they were able to hang on longer than most slot players who plunged at the dollar machines after getting nowhere with quarters, and because of their patience and perseverance, the duchesses won more jackpots than did the tide of tourists that ebbed and flowed around them

Like an old athlete back on the playing field after a long absence, testing his reflexes, taking pride in the fact that his old skills are still there."