Definitely, excessive gambling always results in problems in the family or marriage. It causes too many expenses on gambling, making one neglect to make sure they take good care of their family. It results in financial recklessness as one would not be accountable for every dime that enters their hand, no savings, no investment, no plan, all they have or get goes into gambling, and this is what destroys marriages, where the wife would want a divorce because the person they married is no longer the person he used to be. Sometimes, excesses need to be curtailed to avoid addiction because if measures are not put in place, it would be disastrous in the end.
You are right, it is not always that gambling is the problem, rather when it gets run out of control and out of proportion that all begins to go wrong. The problem is that the majority of people do not realise that they have crossed the line and only after the fact. I have seen some families just fall apart because one individual was unable to quit the pursuit of losses. Balance and lack of self
-control is the true issue. When one has strict boundaries and actually adheres to them, gambling can remain a mere form of entertainment, however, when it takes the place of responsibility, it destroys lives.