For me it hasn't been life changing, because on long run I'm losing more money than winning. At same time, I don't consider it a hurting experience, because every risks taken and money gambled were calculated, so I just bet with money I can afford to lose and that I won't miss or regret later. I still expect gambling to be a life-changing, though, as I hope to win a decent lottery prize someday.
Life changing in whatever direction it all depends on the direction the ops take it, sometimes it can be a hurting experience and in some cases, it will be so exciting, take for example the last championships finals game prediction brought me a lot of excitement and that is because my predictions worked out and Manchester City was able to win the league as predicted and this is most exciting for me since I choose Manchester City to win inter Milan and that was the reality with a 1:0 goal to seal the finals by Manchester even though the odds were around 1.5 I staked high amount and I won a good amount, so my experience is exciting so far but I don't know what the future will bring but even that depends on how I managed my staking ability.