What happens is that it become a habit and habits are incredibly difficult to overcome, since the moment someone gets used to do something then they have problems imagining what else to do with their time if they are not engaging in that habit, so once gambling becomes a part of your daily routine then it can be very difficult to stop it, as even without thinking about it a person may find themselves gambling when they had no intention to do so, and as you say the only way to avoid this is by actively occupying their minds so they do not think about it anymore.
Good point, if you will keep occupying your mindsets and keep yourself busy with your love ones or with your friends, people who are not engaged to any gambling related activities, it will be easier to cope up and lessen the chance of the temptation in bringing yourself inside any gambling activities. It's more about how serious you are in moving or quitting away from this business.
Once you figure it out, your system will comply and you will start to stay out of any gambling participation.
Some people will say it was hard especially when you are already addicted to it but I think not really a hard thing to do if we are really wanted to change and forget about gambling. It is just all about our mindset, we can actually do other stuff to fully divert our focus into something new and more interesting. And was going to agree with you, it needs also help from your friend and relatives, their support is really having a huge influence on our plan to change.