I know people irl who destroyed themselves/their families by gambling activities, there is this story of Mahabharta [1] where king Yudhisthira was led to ruins by gambling — so what saved you from doing stupid in gambling?
I don't think the Mahabharta story really describes the current condition of gambling. Yudhisthira has no choice, so he just followed the Dice. Nowadays, gamblers have some options to avoid doing silly things in gambling. We've discussed quite often about self-control, limitations in gambling, and money management. I think the gamblers have enough knowledge to avoid doing stupid things.