I think loneliness is the reason why people want to gamble, it's too kill our free time. But when you feel sad and feel alone in this life, that means you're not in a good condition, so could do something stupid or may harm yourself. To overcome this, one should try to deal with himself, try to find a good way to fill your energy. For an introvert can try to take me time, while for extrovert can try to meet with other people.
This was not the common phenomenon to all the gamblers,only some people do the gambling because of the loneliness.But many people will get committed to the girlfriend to spend some time with her.The gamblers who had previous involvement to the gambling will easily get into the gambling due to their loneliness into the gambling.Because they had felt the happiness by the gambling play in their past,So they use the money to have the same fun at the time he doesn’t have any companions to spend the loneliness.
Having responsibilities in the form of a family can really change a man. It doesn’t always happen but commitment in the form of marriage could give the man a sense of responsibility and could help mend his ways.
Even with gambling, a man that gambles before he gets married may reduce or outrightly quit the habit due to his new found responsibilities that would help curb any bad habits he may have had. Like you rightly wrote, family should always comes first and is always a priority in the life of a man.
If the gamblers had the commitment with their family,he will try to use the free money to earn more money.He never try to use the time for the gambling,because he doesn’t have money to play the game when their family doesn’t have money to their basic needs.The responsibility may change the man from gambling to earning more money.