Yes, you are right, if we have a friend who is a gambler, especially if he is said to be a serious addict, we must always be careful because it could be that we often borrow money from us and the money will not be returned quickly.
Sometimes, if we have a very close relationship with a friend, perhaps we will not bear the suffering he is experiencing and with compassion we are ready to help him by lending him money even if it is used for gambling.
However, we must always remember that we must be prepared to give up the money if the return does not match the promise to be paid. So, those are the consequences and risks that we will bear ourselves if we lend money to gambling friends.
Avoid doing business with gambling addicts who always lose and have a lot of debt. There have been many victims of chaos caused by gamblers who are in debt... the parties involved always receive unfair treatment that turns friends into enemies. Sometimes taking it to court will require a large amount of money, so it creates an obstacle for parties who want to get justice.
I prefer gamblers who can keep control of their finances in order to survive than gamblers who risk their finances all in for this game without thinking twice.