Do you think that controlling yourself is an easy task in gambling? This is one of the most difficult tasks for me. That is why before gambling one should be sure about the purpose of gambling. If a gambler is financially well and spends his busy days with his working, the word addiction will never come up. But most of the time what happens is long time gambling in a day leads to addiction.
I agree with you, controlling emotions when gambling is very hard and requires a lot of discipline. Even now after years of gambling my brain likes to play mind games with me and tries to trick me into playing longer than I should. Especially during losing streaks I feel the pressure to play one more round, because my brain tells me I am going to win and recover. It's all about staying rational and keep reminding myself that the odds of winning in a casino are independent and not cumulative. I think that addiction starts to manifest when we use money for gambling that we can't afford to lose and shouldn't have touched. Once we give into that pressure it's hard to come back. That is why it's so important for me to have fixed boundaries I will not break, one of them is to a fixed budget per week and month dir gambling. It gives me freedom to decide when to gamble, but once I reach my loss threshold I have to stop. And of course l have to stick to my own restrictions, there is no point in cheating myself.