So am just curious to know if these little games are the one's that got to him or already developed such habit and to know if possible that the practice will continue elsewhere after leaving there when he lost the money and to look for means through gambling to recover it.
The person or people in question's gambling history should be traced. You can't tell me that the little get-together game is what led them to that level; it's not convincing to me.
Either one of them or one of them is a chronic gambler who wants to show off in every little opportunity they get, which is why they decided to take the game to a whole different level without even thinking about how others will view and look at their action.
But in my opinion everything will really depend on the attitude of the gamblers because if they have wise attitude and are responsible for every decision in gambling then bad things won't happen.
It not about the game or the amount of money used but more dominant about how they think and make decisions after everything has happened, experiencing defeat is sad thing but if there are recovery efforts it can also be much worse.
My conclusion would be to say that whatever happens and however the results still depend on each gambler himself.
You are right because many gamblers have this attitude, they want to get praise and they want to be seen as braver and more professional gamblers, but that actually no use.
And this kind of attitude is what makes gambling place that destroys many people, but this is not the fault of the gambling activity but the fault of the attitude of the gamblers who do not have clear mindset regarding every decision they make.