Machno could have been more successful if he managed to get more from his alliance with the bolsheviks and Trotsky. If he managed to secure it earlier, for example by claiming official alliegence to the bolshevik cause in 1918 without surrendering any control to Moscow but by using force to have the various ukrainian councils report to him, he could become one of the rulers of Ukraine, along with the leaders of the Ukrainian SSR. Of course a clash with the Bolsheviks would be unavoidable, but if Machno managed to take control of the area between Dnepr and Don during the Russian Civil War, he could change sides and attempt to ally with the Poles - though they most likely would ignore him, or try to force him to cooperate with Petlura which is impossible.