There's a simple answer to that of course... it is a gambling game.

It is a skilled gambling game... but it's still gambling. If I sat down with Phil Helmuth tomorrow, there's a chance that I would beat him. If I played Gary Kasparov in chess, there is no chance.

Of course, any wagering game with any element of chance is gambling. Backgammon is not grouped with poker in common mind, but the games are very similar. They're skill games because the players control the chances. A skilled player makes wagers that he will win a favorable amount of the time, a poor player makes wagers that he will lose too often.

Your friend is a fool. Until the hand is decided, it's gambling. AA preflop is a GOOD gamble... but so are LOTS of other situations. Just because it's a good gamble doesn't mean it's not a gamble though... and just because it's a gamble doesn't mean that it doesn't take skill to choose between good situations and bad ones.

__________________
-You may not know this, but poker is a game of incomplete information.