I’m not referring to the people who gamble once in a blue moon. I’m talking about those who gamble habitually.
How come they’re all such garbage people, with legitimately no exceptions? Take a look at any high-stakes poker table and everyone except maybe the dealer is a de-facto scumbag.
One of my colleagues is a former professional poker player and he seems well adjusted to me. He was between jobs and is good at maths/bluffing so spent around a year playing poker tournaments. I suppose the difference with poker is that you are playing against other people as opposed to the house so you have better odds if you are good (although the house has a rake which takes some of the money staked each round).