Nope, in my view gambling is a style of life rather than a hobby. True and abstracted gamblers will bet on everything even on tomorrow's whether and it doesn't matter with whom and where. They are gambling in the sake of process which is part of their psychologic life. I'm not in their class. For me personally gambling is a kinf of "hash-time" session when spending my leisure time.
Gambling can be considered anything, depending on how we view it. You can consider it as "life style" or "style of life" for yourself, but you can't generalize it. Not sure what you mean by "true gamblers" or "abstracted gamblers", but it isn't likely as a lifestyle if a gambler bets on everything and do it carelessly. IMO, it is just the way of wasting money with gambling if a gambler does it in that way. I think you need another example if you want to describe it as a "life style". 
I'm also a bit similar as you. I just bet when I've free time (spare time). I'm not a typical gambler who push all my funds in a single day. I've an allocation for gambling daily, weekly, or even monthly. I'm not a part of those gamblers who can spend all my funds because of chasing the wins or trying to recover losses. When I have a bad day and get some losses, I'll stop it earlier in that day and return again tomorrow.