Children do not always follow their parents' example. If a father shows that gambling is bad, that he has lost more than he has won, he can influence his son positively, perhaps. But that is not necessarily true.
Friends can have a big impact: if they play, you feel pressure to follow them. But even here, that's not a given.
I think it's a personal thing that matures with many psychological factors, not just one
True if children follows their parents footsteps the world would been a better place, many thing the children do today the parents never do them, its just our world. The way their train our parents is the different from how our parents train us today. internet has more influence to the children than parents. so its hard to copy your parents life styles. As for me, my parents hate gambling and they banned us from playing it. yet we still play because we have access to the internet and i can play without stepping outside. Parents really has no say on the impact of gambling on children, but they can reduce it by playing advisory role.