People don't understand the nature of addiction and people who have never won anything can't understand how the rush of a win can get them hooked. The chemicals released by the brain cause the rush same as crack and are very addictive. It's not like a light switch, you can't turn it off, your brain simply wouldn't function. The chemicals that feed a crack or gambling addict are inside them but the sudden release of them is as potent as Heroin if not worse because when the smack is removed the reaction wains but the chemicals that transport information within the brain can't stop, the brain wouldn't work.
In short gambling is ill gotten gain and it takes a stubborn determination to stop the cycle once it begins. Help from the lord is best but they can never go back. The delusion they can get away with it becomes an obsession tha often ends in prostitution, robbery and even suicide. Grannies stuff their whole Social Security checks into Vegas machines and don't have the money to drive 300 miles home, Wow, It's like the devil to them. Cunning, baffling and powerful...…….The end.