Gambling can be only referred as a short cut to poverty when the gambler becomes addicted to it. Gambling addiction is very deadly and would render whoever that's addicted to it poor and financial lack which is why gamblers are always advised to gamble responsibly and to take control of their gambling engagements. So if you know you gamble responsibly, I don't think you should have any fear of becoming poor because of your gambling activities.
That's right, I agree with what you said that actually the bad impact of gambling will only occur when a gambler is trapped in an addiction which addiction is most likely to occur when a gambler from the start has the wrong perspective on gambling due to their misunderstanding of what and how gambling really is.
So actually gambling will not have too much of a bad impact on our lives if only we know about how a good approach should be applied to gambling such as gambling with the intention of entertainment when you have boring free time, as we often hear that many people say gambling for entertainment and that's the reason, and I would say that the only way to be a responsible gambler is to not make winning a priority.