Gambling addicts say that even though their losses pile up, there's a feeling that brings them back to the card table or slot machine.
In my opinion this is not what specifies a gambling addict, since it is actually true that you will probably loose money in gambling from time to time. Since you can never predict when you will actually earn money, this is simply the hard truth about gambling. So this is actually very normal as long as you only loose what you can easily afford to loose. In my opinion you need to predict how long you will probably loose money before your first big gain and just play with small amounts that allow to afford also a loosing streak.
So just remember to never gamble more then you can afford and see it as a hobby, gambling is not a job but it is a hobby for free time.