It's not a question of age in my opinion, both young and old can get trapped in gambling, in my opinion it's a question of education and social background.
If you think a game can give you a living, you're very wrong, because this is very difficult and almost never happens.
Does anyone still think that gambling can make a living? There are probably such people, but there are not that many of them. As soon as you start losing, some awareness and understanding of the real situation comes. To tell the truth, I myself was too naive a player and thought that I could change my life for the better financially, but everything happened exactly the opposite.
Appreciate your honesty, but it is not only that people learn once they lose, but it is also math and product design. Casinos bake in a house edge, books have a built-in vig factor and therefore you must win 52.38% of -110 odds to break even which is not actually cool. Definitely, there are pros out there but they are only grinding micro edges, 53-55% win rates with limited funds and to consistently do that is not possible for most chaps out there. So no, gambling is not a profession for 99% people, it is leisure with a cost attached to it. And if you still wanna play just put a cap on your capital and time and also avoid these VIP or bonus baits, bro.