Good luck getting 20,000 back from welfare. Even with a normal job saving 20,000 is a lot of work. It takes years to save such kind of money and being able to lose it in one night is devastating. We need to be more careful with our money and engage in risk management to protect us from going bankrupt. A gambling addiction makes everything worse because we lose control of our spending habits. But still if we are ever at risk to lose those kind of sums we should pull the plug and take a break.