I had a friend that gambles only during the weekends, he claimed to gamble for fun only but In two weeks he was losing more than 300 dollars, and I asked him if he an addicted gambler but he denied it.
Maybe he really isn’t though? I mean if he is losing this much and he affords it anyway and he can choose to stop anytime he wants then maybe he isn’t addicted yet. Could be close. Since it’s not yet that deep to say that it’s harming him so much.
It's very simple, if they keep losing significantly and it keeps progressing, that's an addiction.
If they can no longer stop even if they have lost so much money and can’t afford to gamble anymore but still continues to do so. Once they start asking for loans or selling things just to gamble, that’s an addiction.