If at some point I am left to make the choice between taking gambling as a hobby or becoming addicted, I will probably choose hobby because with that I can still place some limits on my gambling involvement but if it becomes an addiction then one will have a lot of problems in controlling of your gambling engagements which could possibly result into more severe conditions that could put one out in the negative limelights.
But if you have the choice of utilizing your timing in form of how you engage with your hobbies which allow you to place schedule on all the activities, this helps you alot to make the right decisions, that limits your overall experience and help shape you activities as a gambler.
Even though you will be gambling frequently as a hobby, you will still not become addicted since you are doing so within the limits, unlike in case of an addiction where everything goes.
Funny enough there is no difference between some who take gambling as a hobby and those who are addicted to gambling. They have one thing in common which is they gamble regularly without limit. And anyone who gambles regularly can be seen as a gambling addict because when there is free time or leisure time the only thing they think about at that moment is gambling.
It is difficult to set limits to what you find as a hobby. Since it has become a part of you, you will prefer spending more time doing that thing than spending it on other things. If gambling is a hobby then it is an addiction, there are no two ways about it. Its just the word that changed but the meaning is the same.