I think addiction starts after you win, even if it's just once, that's when you start gambling recklessly and you also start betting higher.
I can vividly relate with this point, I remember when I first began my gambling on online and in land sports betting I made countless numbers of losses in the very beginning due to my shallow knowledge about analyzing and gathering informations about a team before moving ahead to bet on them. As a result of not having a single winning, each time I feel like going to the bet hall to gamble what comes to mind is you want to go and lose money today again. As in, there was no other striking thought of winning aside losing it because I haven't experienced a win before as at then. So the thought deterred me from going to gamble some days.
After sometime I had my first time winning an amount I didn't believe could be won by me in my first time, thereafter I had another win after a few weeks. Guess what! That thought of "you are going to lose money today again" ceased from taking a center stage, a thought of hope to win sets in because of the winning experience I have had twice then. That was how I frequent at the gambling hall almost everyday my loses increased thrice more than I had expected.
There's a different mentality held inside between a gambler that had won money in gambling before and he who hasn't had that winning experience before, not even ones.
Even though the details of your story are unique, it generally follows a similar path for people who gamble. Initially, losses make any hopes of winning seem pointless. In contrast, winning, especially for the first time, can greatly alter this view. Mentally, its like flipping a switch: all of a sudden, the chance of winning seems real, pushing aside the truth of losing. There is a cognitive bias called the "gambler's fallacy" behind this change, not just hope.
As a result, this bias can create a harmful loop. You stop caring about the odds and start trying to win. This dangerous route was shown by your experience, where losses tripled after initial wins. Remember that gaming is a game of chance, not skill. It is always better to play against the house, and the longer you play, the more likely it is that you will lose. No one is just guessing; this is a mathematical fact.