Gambling has both good and bad aspects, but because the bad side is more reflected in the society than the good side, people identify gambling as bad. But among the good aspects of gambling, it is considered as an important means of passing idle time. But when a lonely person feels helpless then only gambling can give him some relief from loneliness and he can find himself in gambling. When a lonely person spends time gambling, he will no longer feel helpless and lonely.
Not always but I do agree on some parts of it. There are times when it could add more stress to our lives and that is when we are in the losing mode.
Anyone who has been gambling a lot knows about this, there's different emotional swings that gambling can provide and one of those is stress which most of the time happens to a gambler who is expecting something in return.
But those who are passing idle time, as you said, might not even feel that kind of emotion. For them, they might be using money that is only meant to entertain them and perhaps they are better gamblers than those veteran gamblers who are expecting wins because they can always stay calm.