I really wouldn't rely on such connections. A friendship that is bonded by a bad habit can easily be broken when you decided that you don't like that habit anymore. Sure, you'd find good people there. But your "friendship" can only go as deep. The only shared interest that you guys have is that you are both gamblers. Other than that, it really is hard to find someone who has the same interests as you. If you're gambling for social connections, I'd say go out more with the people that are in the same field as you are. For example, if you are in the fashion industry, go out for dinner with your other fashionable friends and make them bring their friends. Simply befriend your friends' friends that have the same interest. This way, your social network will be a lot more specific. It will be a lot more targeted.

And since you're spending money in gambling just to have social connections anyway, you might as well spend that money to treat your new friend a meal. People really do love it when you take them out for a meal and you say that you're going to pay for it. It's like free lunch is the new social currency.

But the sole reason why gambling is fun is because it's rewarding and the reward comes in the form of money. I wonder, since people don't wanna focus with the winnings, what would happen if we remove money in the scenario. Would it be as rewarding to bet on dice games without the money? Like, you're just going to bet and see if you've bet correctly and then that's it? Will it still be fun? I personally think not.