The world can't ban gambling, hence some countries that don't allow gambling, maybe for the sake of their citizens' mental health, may have not done themselves a great favor. Because as you said, they'll gamble in other countries using VPN and other apps that can help hide their IP address. The government may not be able to control the problem of gamblers using the ban as a threat. They need to devise other methods and try them out. Maybe promoting the importance of gambling and removing the bad thoughts people have about gambling. A man is what he thinks. If a gambler is worried about being addicted he won't be able to escape it easily as he only thinks of addiction. Hence to be on the safe side, gamblers need to have nice thoughts about gambling and how it can help society. People think gambling has no economic importance, but it's quite very great in helping the economy of some countries in the world.

Other than that, if responsible gambling is promoted enough, players won't be getting addicted. A gambler needs to avoid spending too much time in gambling. One must understand the body system and how it may react to gambling addiction. The goal is mainly, to enjoy the habit, not having a bad memory about the gambling habit. In terms of diverting to activities that'll help the gambler avoid gambling addiction, the gambler may not be able to achieve it on his own. However, it depends on the level of the player's addiction to gambling. Those who are still a bit in control of their actions and don't feel comfortable being addicted to gambling can do it themselves and change gradually. Even though they won't stop immediately, at least it helps in building back the emotions of the gambler to stay strongly in control of his actions. That's why the gambler who doesn't notice earlier his outstanding deficiencies in gambling can have a hard time diverting his addiction to something else.