Aaron Armstrong sits at the poker table in Casino Windsor contemplating
his cards. It's 4 a.m. and he — the youngest guy at the felt — has
raised the stakes.
Four young guys decked out in polo shirts
and ball caps fold, as does the sweet-looking grandmother. Five players
remain. The river card — the final card to make a hand — flips over.
It's the king of hearts — which matches the queen and 10 in the rest of
the flop cards, as well as the ace and nine in Armstrong's hand. He's
got the flush, and the pot of $280. Armstrong is a 19-year-old
Durham College student. He's into poker. That's an understatement — his
initials even equal his favourite two-card hand, pocket aces. Obsessed?
Yes. But is it a problem? Well ... he says no. However, the 18-
to 24-year-old age group does have the most people with a gambling
problem, twice the rate of the general population, according to
research from the Responsible Gambling Council of Ontario. This
prompted the council to head a new media campaign starting last year
targeting students. But even before the current poker craze
began, Armstrong was playing. It's been three years since the North
American poker craze began in earnest, when ESPN started airing
high-stakes games among professionals, games in which the viewer could
see the cards. Poker's popularity has skyrocketed to include other
television shows and a $1.8 billion dollar Internet industry. Armstrong
started four years ago on a whim with a group of close friends. "None
of us knew the rules too well. We were trying to remember as we went
along," the first-year business administration student says. But
despite this, Armstrong came off with a win and pocketed $45. Although
Armstrong's play includes one to two hours a day online, he says he
knows how to avoid addiction. "It's very easy to turn your hobby into
one," he admits. "I just set my limits and know how many times I can
afford to play. If you don't know, that's when you get into big
trouble." Armstrong claims his limits vary depending on his
income. When he's working, he's playing with $150 a week. But when
jobless he goes down to $50. Another number is burned into his
mind: $120. It's the most he's lost in one sitting. "I'm going through
a cold streak now," he says. "All my buddies are out to get me — they
don't want me to win any more."Where has a 19-year-old kid
learned how to play so well? "I watch the World Poker Tour like it's my
religion, as well as the World Series events on TSN," he says. "I
always put myself in players' positions to see what I would do and how
it would turn out."His professional hero? Daniel Negreanu, the
31-year-old Toronto-born player who has won more than 35 world-wide
poker victories and has accumulated more than $4 million as of last
year alone. "He's so good at reading people," Armstrong says. "I like
to think I can play as well as him, but obviously that's a stretch."Armstrong
sets himself apart from other self-proclaimed poker junkies because he
goes to great lengths to play — including his frequent hour-long drives
to Windsor from his hometown of Blenheim, Ont. "I honestly just
love playing," he says. "It's something fun to do with the guys." But
his roommate, Dave Hough, claims that it's all he does. "He drags the
mouse onto the bed and angles the computer monitor just right so he can
get good and comfy," the 19-year-old says. "And then there's the
constant noise of shuffling chips from the next room." Hough's
been on the losing end against Armstrong. The two decided to play for
who did the dirty dishes each day. But after 90 days without a win for
Hough, that was the end of it. Does he go from beating his
roommate to trying to take on the likes of Negreanu? "I see myself
still playing with friends and going to the casino on occasion," he
says. "Sure I'd love to say I'm going to be a millionaire and win the
World Series of Poker. But realistically that's highly unlikely. And
I'm aware of that. I can handle just playing for fun."
thestar.com
