Obviously there is a big difference between the salary from a job and the profits from gambling,
what you say is true the profit from gambling results is clearly unreliable,
believe in gambling then someone will get stuck in other problems.
Gambling and salary dont really go hand in hand. Gamblers end up spending their salary on games and land up broke.

What the OP said though, you have to live like a monk and consolidate your earnings before you dream of more. Be realistic and be pragmatic about money, there is no place for trust here.
I would say that going for risky investments at the minimum would cause less problems that arise out of the same. But then we are humans after all.