Gambling is when you put something at risk – like your money or other valuables – to try and predict the outcome of a game that involves chance. For example, you might bet on a football match or buy a scratchcard to see if you can win the jackpot. Gambling is also a popular pastime for many people and has a positive impact on the economy, providing jobs and tax revenue for governments. It can also be used as a learning tool to teach students about probability, statistics and risk management.

In addition to boosting economic activity, gambling is an exciting recreational activity that provides a rush and the feeling of achievement when you win. It can be a great way to socialize with friends, and can help you develop and improve your mental abilities. But gambling can also be addictive and cause problems for people who have an addiction to it. Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to help someone with a gambling addiction.

Getting help for problem gambling is important, and family therapy can be a good place to start. It’s also helpful to establish financial boundaries with the person you are concerned about, such as preventing them from spending their own money or taking out loans. You might even want to consider hiring a professional credit counselor to help them manage their finances and set financial goals.

Some people are more prone to gambling than others, and some can become addicted to it despite their best efforts to control the behavior. There are a variety of reasons why this may happen, including boredom susceptibility, an underactive brain reward system, impulsivity, the use of escape coping and other life stressors. Biological factors, such as a gene that promotes thrill-seeking behaviors and a tendency to overestimate the chances of success, can also be factors.

The effects of gambling can be structuralized using a model where they are categorized into negative and positive; costs and benefits. These impacts manifest in personal, interpersonal and society/community levels (Fig. 1). Financial impacts include changes in income, expenditures and assets. Labor and health impacts include gambling-related stress, loss of productivity and physical and mental illnesses.

While most of the negative impacts of gambling are monetary, there are some non-monetary costs that have been overlooked in studies of the phenomenon. These include the psychological, social and societal consequences of gambling, which are difficult to measure and quantify in monetary terms. Consequently, they have been omitted from most studies of the impacts of gambling. However, there is growing recognition that these impacts should be included in future analyses of gambling.