When you are depending on someone for assistance because you want to gamble it means that you are risking what you can not afford to lose. Why because you don't have the money to gamble but someone have to give it to you before you can stake.
But when you have jobs that pays you money so well and you are gambling it means you are risking what you can afford to lose. Why because ones you lose your job will give you another money.
However, many people would say even if you have jobs but you are staking higher it also means you are gambling with what you can not afford to lose. Moreover it's true and I have to dauth but I have a feeling that ones someone that have a good paying job is staking more than what he can afford to lose, there is no different between addiction there.
You are portraying it in a wrong way. Even I am taking a loan but I have the capability to pay it back easily then I can still afford to lose that money.
So taking loan does not directly mean that we cannot afford to lose it. Sometimes we don't the money handy and we do take up micro loans for processing the transaction.
The whole concept about affording to lose relies on one's capability to continue living a normal life while losing the money.
If the amount you lose create hiccups in your life then you cannot afford to lose that money.
Not just because you can pay it, means you can afford it. It's not only like that. Affording something is being ale to pay it without any regrets or any negative feeling. Imagine taking a loan and losing the amount, then will still be required of paying it. Won't you feel bad? If you can really afford it why would you be needing to take a loan? If you have $100k in your annual savings and would want to purchase a car worth $95k, would you buy it? There will be a side that you will, but also a side that you won't because you will consider the length of time you needed to accumulate such amount. And this is already something you will be able to use unlike with gambling loss that you will no longer have possession of it.
Therefore, for me, as to how I understand affordability of something; I really take the ideology of having the value 5x over before I use a certain amount. In such way I wil have enough margin of my wealth to not stress about it even fafter consumption of purchase of a certain thing or activity.