Well I think it is very much possible to live a very comfortable and stable life from gambling  and I've seen and I know personally  someone who lives atkeast a comfortable  life totally  off gambling  and some little business raised from gambling proceeds. He had a daughter  nf a wife and lives in his own house and not rent and he also drives a car and also owns over two unisex saloons and all these were proceeds from gambling and what really matters is how well we live our lives when we make big wins.
I'm sorry your friend got carried away but the truth is that he never made judicious  use of his winnings and that was why he went back to trenches and not necessarily  because he was a gambler.