Yeah, gambling absolutely has the capacity to break up a marriage and or family, I have witness this happen myself, it happened to my direct friend whom we both were working in the company here in my country before we both got married, my friend was a gambling addict which I wasn't aware of, I knew he was into gambling but I never knew he was addicted, I got to find out he was addicted only after he got married, when ever he was out of money to use or spend on gambling, he would start searching his wife's things and take her money and squander it on gambling.
At a point, the girl became fade and she took their only child, a boy and left the marriage, this is was way back 2017 and till date, they are not yet back together as I learnt since I myself later relocated to another city.
And speaking of disclosing our gambling activities to our partners, well, for me, I do not buy the idea but it depends on the type of gambler the man is anyway.
Once gambling addiction creeps in it’s no longer just about money it’s about time energy and focus that should have been for the family but instead gets poured into chasing wins that never come. This makes a spouse feel abandoned even when the gambler is still physically present because their mind is elsewhere always thinking of the next game the next bet. Kids also grow up seeing this chaos and it shapes how they view money responsibility and trust. Some even carry those scars into adulthood repeating the same mistakes they witnessed and that cycle of broken families and hidden struggles keeps going.
In many cases gamblers tell themselves they’ll fix it before anyone finds out but the truth is the more they try to cover it up the deeper the lies get until the relationship has no more space for trust. Secrecy in marriage breeds suspicion and suspicion turns into fights and distance.That’s why some people say it’s better to open up early even if it’s hard because sometimes a partner can become the strongest support system to break free from the habit. But if the gambler waits until everything is damaged beyond repair then the only thing left might be regret and a broken home.