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9[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gamblers_1409.jpg]]
10[[caption-width-right:350:A gambler's heaven and a gambler's hell.\
11[-Image by Thomas Rowlandson-]]]
12
13->''"Ah, my bread and butter: thrill-seeking rich folk with a poor grasp of statistics and probability."''
14-->-- '''Manny Calavera''', ''VideoGame/GrimFandango''
15
16A character who likes [[TheBet a flutter]], and whether it's on horse races, poker, or lottery, they do it to the extent where it becomes a bad habit or starts to cause problems. They spend the family's rent money, lose their job, or end up owing a lot of money to TheSyndicate.
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18At the less extreme end, the character will stick to small bets and simply enjoys the game. In some cases, they may even be able to make a profit from their gambling. At the more extreme end, the character is fully addicted and quite capable of ruining their own finances, lives and those of the people around them. Perhaps more common in older works and literature, when people had to make their own entertainment and card games were a much more common social activity.
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20Sometimes a character [[CompressedVice develops this trait temporarily]], usually in a sitcom. In these cases, their new habit will often lead to a big loss, and the rest of the episode will be spent trying to recover the money or property. It's also a very convenient "habit" for a writer to use as a Compressed Vice because, as an emotional addiction, it doesn't carry outward signs that would have to be written in or accounted for later, and, as a legal or quasi-legal addiction, can be fully depicted in even some Family Friendly works ''and'' is more "realistic" as an addiction for some characters than, say, heroin. Unfortunately, this often leads viewers to believe it is a Compressed Vice in real life--when real-life gambling addicts range the spectrum from Compressed Vice/temporary irresponsibility to those who literally ''cannot stop'' and do incur problems with the criminal justice system or are even DrivenToSuicide.
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22The difference between the ProfessionalGambler and the Gambling Addict is that the Professional Gambler is actually more of a combination of risky investor, actor and mathematician/logician, whereas Gambling Addicts often don't know or care about the odds or strategies to play them for the best possible outcome, nor do they KnowWhenToFoldEm. In fact, the Gambling Addict often picks games that ''can't'' be influenced by acting or by analytical skill, such as roulette, slots, video poker, keno, or lotteries. [[GamblersFallacy They may think they have a "system", though.]] Rather than for any calculable gain, they play for the thrill and the prospect of the win that will come "any day" but likely never does (or does, but they lose it again); if they try to stop, they will find they cannot because they are hooked on this feeling.
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24Not to be confused with TheGambler. Often leads to being TrappedByGamblingDebts. Gambling Addiction may lead to an AbsurdlyHighStakesGame. More likely than most to start a GamblingBrawl when experiencing a losing streak. If a story arc focuses on a character ''becoming'' this, it's an example of DescentIntoAddiction. A common reason for why GamblingRuinsLives.
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26----
27!!Examples:
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29[[foldercontrol]]
30
31[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': This is one of Momoha's many vices stemming from her being TheHedonist in Rentarou's harem.
33* ''Literature/ApparentlyDisillusionedAdventurersWillSaveTheWorld'' has two: Tianna, one of the main characters, and Donny, the boyfriend of resident idol Agate, but while [[{{Foil}} they both adopted gambling as a coping mechanism for their troubles they have very different attitudes toward it]], as Tianna is quick to call it a day whenever she starts losing too much and avoided debts, while Donny became obsessed and indebted, and eventually lost his relationship with Agate.
34* In ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'', one of the Chairman's first cruel acts on opening his school was to turn several students into hopeless gambling addicts [[spoiler:as revenge for their bullying a student from his old cram school until he committed suicide]].
35* [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]] from ''Anime/CodeGeass'', before BecomingTheMask, was a heavy gambler who often skipped classes to run off to casinos and nobles' residences. It stopped when he donned the alter-ego Zero, but regardless he still used his gambling addiction as a cover for his operations.
36* Faye Valentine from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. [[spoiler:Since she was woken from [[HumanPopsicle cryosleep]] with amnesia and a huge debt attached to her name, she sees no point in trying to save money]].
37* Kaiji from ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'' is also suffering from this after the end of the first season. He still hasn't learned his lesson. In fact, surviving the DeadlyGame only seems to have made it ''worse'' as the resulting ChronicHeroSyndrome ends up seeming more like an excuse to keep getting himself into more dangerous gambling scenarios. After a while, even the friends that he saved start to get sick of his shit because even when he wins big and finds a way out, [[ShouldntYouStopStealing he just worms his way back in because it's never enough]].
38* ''Manga/{{Kakegurui}}'', which literally translates to "The Compulsive Gambler", follows Jabami Yumeko, a high-school girl who exposes cheaters in ludicrously high-stakes gambling matches simply so [[ThrillSeeker she'll have more opportunities to bet on games of pure chance]].
39* Nanami's father from ''Manga/KamisamaKiss''. The story begins with her being kicked out of her house because of his gambling debts.
40* Kankichi Ryotsu from ''Manga/{{Kochikame}}'' with his habits of playing pachinko and betting on horses.
41* Yasui, a minor character from ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'', is known to gamble ([[DrowningHisSorrows and drink]]) away into the night in order to cope with his losses in his professional shogi matches.
42* Tsunade from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fits it quite nicely. She is so bad at gambling that she considers it a bad omen when she hits a lucky streak. And as it turns out, she got it from her grandfather, the First Hokage.
43* Several characters in ''Manga/OnePiece'', although in most cases it's an InformedFlaw:
44** Paulie of Water-7 is described as a huge gambler. He is first introduced fleeing from debt collectors and actually tries to steal the Straw Hats' 300 Million to pay them off.
45** Buffalo of the Don Quixote Pirates is also a huge gambler, but from what some mooks say, he has terrible luck at the roulette. That doesn't stop him from borrowing money from [[ExtremeDoormat Baby-5]] to fuel his addiction.
46** Admiral Fujitora is introduced constantly betting on the roulette wheel. Being blind, he can't see where the ball lands himself, and almost gets bilked out of his money by the cheating other players. After Luffy defeats Doflamingo, he rolls the die to see whether he should arrest the pirate or not.
47* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', we have Gold and the gaming corner in ''Gold/Silver/Crystal'' (hints are towards it being a habit; and his Togepi "inherits" it), and then the CompressedVice version with Platinum Berlitz and the game corner at Sinnoh years later during the ''Diamond/Pearl'' arc.
48* ''Manga/RoosterFighter'': Sei's father has lost everything to horse races and believed that he'll make everything back by searching for buried treasure for a year. He didn't succeed.
49* Eisuke Kitamura in ''Manga/SteppingOnRoses'' (aka ''Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume''), much to the chagrin of the protagonist, his sister Sumi. This combined with his habit of [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe constantly bringing orphaned children]] home with him has the family up to their ears in debt at the beginning of the series.
50* ''Anime/YuYuHakusho'': Sakyo gambles obsessively as a way of sublimating his psychopathic tendencies to more profitable ventures than, say, becoming a serial killer. Fortunately for him, he's ''very'' good at it. Unfortunately for everyone else, he eventually gets bored with mundane gambling and decides to gamble with the lives of people and demons.
51[[/folder]]
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53[[folder:Comic Books]]
54* Floyd Sewell of ''ComicBook/{{Copperhead}}'' gambled away everything he owned and then some to everyone in town. Then he did the same outside town.
55* In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' this was the goal of one of Rockerduck's most successful plans against Scrooge (explicitly inspired in-universe by Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's novella ''The Gambler''): first have [[StalkerWithACrush Brigitta]] chase him into the casino he opened just for this plan (he had the license for a long time, but never used it because he knew Gladstone would bankrupt it in a day, and got him on a world cruise just for the plan), then threaten to kick him out unless he gambles, and then have professional cheaters let him win long enough for Scrooge to become addicted to the victories before having them win everything and then some until they could have him interdicted with Brigitta as his caretaker [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe and then force Scrooge to marry her to get his money back]]. It worked, at least until [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Brigitta realized what she had done]] and got the Nephews and, most importantly, Paperinik to help, with Paperinik scaring the addiction out of Scrooge while having a disguised Gladstone bankrupt the casino.
56* GoldenAge ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' villain the Gambler comes from a long line of gambling addicts.
57* Long Shot, of ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats'', is a compulsive gambler who will bet on anything, even in the heat of combat.
58* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Tim meets a number of gambling addicts when he goes to a gambling addict support group to try and learn the location of some underground casinos that are particularly nasty, when tracking down a violent new thief styling herself as a vigilante who targets criminals running such places.
59* The [[IronicNickname ironically named]] Lucky Smurf in ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' story "The Gambling Smurfs". He hardly ever seems to win at gambling, but he'll never stop betting on something.
60* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'', Greg Gilbert's poker addiction, which has already gotten him into hot water several times, is finally affecting his daily life. After finding out that his secretary is ghost-writing his scripts so his boss does not fire him (and her), [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Linda Danvers]] confronts Greg, and he reveals why he has been missing work: he is a regular at an illegal gaming parlor, and he owes $30,000 to a mobster after a high-stakes game two weeks ago. To his credit, Greg owns up to his addiction.
61-->'''Linda Danvers:''' Greg, don't you see what's happening? This "action" of yours -- when it starts interfering with your work... complicating your whole life like this, it... It...\
62'''Greg Gilbert:''' Yeah? It what? It means I have a problem -- like maybe I'm a compulsive gambler? If you think that's news to me, Linda, guess again!
63* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'':
64** In ''Explorers on the Moon'', [[spoiler:Frank Wolff turns out to have been this; Colonel Jorgen first persuaded him to work for him by paying off his gambling debts in exchange for classified information.]]
65** In ''The Castafiore Emerald'', Castafiore's accompanist Wagner is the first suspect in the theft of her jewels when Tintin finds out that he sneaks out of the house every day; [[spoiler:turns out he's actually going to the village to place bets.]]
66* Will's father in ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' was this, which was why her mother left him. He reappeared for a short storyline where he tried to con the two for money, but the Guardians end up getting a little bit of help to get rid of him.
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69%%[[folder:Comic Strips]]
70%%* Rudy, in ''ComicStrip/TheWorldOfLilyWong''.
71%%[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Fan Works]]
74* Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
75** In his creation of/expansion of the barely canonical "Aceria" [[note]] A portmanteau of MooseAndMapleSyrup and {{Eagleland}}[[/note]] drops the back-story that the [[UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands Sto Kerrigian]] colony in Aceria transferred ownership to Ankh-Morpork, not because of a war but because the King of Ankh-Morpork and the Chief Burger of Sto Kerrig had a gambling addiction that got out of hand. A session of Cripple Mr. Onion between the two Heads of State reached the point where they were betting whole ''colonies'' on the turn of a card. Thus, the city and colony of [[FreestateAmsterdam New DamHamster]] became New Ankh-Morpork in seconds, based on a bad hand. [[note]]The Ankh-Morporkian Empire insisted on the new name. The laconic Acerians shortened it to ''[[BigApplesauce New Pork]]''[[/note]].
76** Elsewhere in the Pessimal canon, a hapless addicted gambler realises, in a sudden epiphany, how to make it work for him, and becomes both comfortably rich ''and'' barred from bookies' shops, casinos and racetracks as his notoriety grows. The punter is not meant to win, after all. The addicted gambler discovers he cannot beat the system, and his actions have a sting in the tail, in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6697660/12/The-Discworld-Tarot The Bet's the Thing]]''.
77* In ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfTheEquinox'', Scootaloo's adoptive mother Vibrant Glow is this. It has left the family mired in debts as well as led to the degeneration of their homelife, like Scootaloo's adoptive father Brutus Meadows becoming an abusive drunk.
78* In ''Fanfic/RiskItAll'', Ren falls on the more minor end of this trope. He became hooked on gambling after winning a hundred dollars from a poker game with his co-workers, joining games at back alley gambling dens before moving up to casinos in hopes of earning money for himself and his parents. Luckily, he's good enough to make a tidy profit, but all of it goes down the drain when he gets shot and put in a coma. He initially swears to give up gambling after seeing how his habit nearly killed him, but soon finds that [[RPGMechanicsVerse his new superpowers]] revolve around it.
79* In the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' fic ''Fanfic/TwentyFiveMDistanceBetweenUs'', Mario is a recovered gambling addict. He grew up poor and, in his search for money, ended up getting into gambling. His girlfriend Pauline helped clean him up.
80[[/folder]]
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82[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
83* In ''Film/Armageddon1998'', Chick is taken to NASA mission control by the government agents while playing craps in Las Vegas, and when discussing their material rewards for accomplishing the mission, Harry says that Chick wants an all-expenses-paid vacation in a luxury suite in Caesar's Palace, and on the astronauts' day of rest before boarding the shuttles, he goes to talk his ex-wife and son for what may be the last time, and it's heavily implied that his gambling addiction is the reason why they got divorced, and how she successfully sued to deny him custody and visitation rights.
84%%* The main character in ''Film/TheBadLieutenantPortOfCallNewOrleans'' (among his many other addictions).
85* ''Film/BayOfAngels'': The central theme. Jean's friend Caron is an addict who says he hides his gambling from his wife and explains that "it's like a drug." Jean falls in love with an addict named Jackie who, when he first sees her, is being tossed out of the casino in Enghien for trying to steal chips. She says that she has slept on benches before after losing her money gambling. She also says that her gambling led to her divorce and her husband getting sole custody of their 3-year-old son. She has a toy roulette wheel in her suitcase, and says that sometimes, when she doesn't have any money, she uses it to gamble alone.
86* In ''Film/BetYourLife'', Sonny is a gambling addict who is deep in debt to loan sharks. When he is given $5000 in complimentary chips at the Tower Casino, he tells himself that he should just cash the chips and walk out. He can't.
87* The title character of ''Film/BobLeFlambeur'' ("Bob the Gambler") is a GentlemanThief and an all-around great guy, except he's hopelessly addicted to gambling, which he does all day and night, and even has a slot machine in his apartment that he is shown playing several times during the film.
88* ''Film/CaliforniaSplit'': Both main characters could adequately be described thusly. Charlie literally does nothing but gamble, and will bet on anything. Bill, who gets sucked into Charlie's lifestyle, winds up losing his job, falling deep into debt, and hocking his car and possessions, so he can get a bus ticket to Reno and gamble some more. Their fates are different: Bill realizes he has a problem and that he can't sustain his lifestyle; Charlie also recognizes his habits are ultimately unfulfilling, but has made peace with them.
89* In ''Film/CanyonPassage'', George is a compulsive gambler, to the point of it being his FatalFlaw. Logan and Lucy both try to get him to stop but to no avail. He starts StealingFromTheTill to cover his debts and ultimately commits murder to prevent his thefts from being uncovered.
90* Harry in ''Film/TheConIsOn''. She and Peter end in their current fix because she loses almost all of Irina's loot in a poker game. What little is left, Peter spends on drugs.
91* Philip Leonides in ''Film/CrookedHouse''. He is living in the family home because his father bailed him out of gambling debts, and returning home was the price he had to pay. He even rolls a dice to decide if he'll answer Charles' questions.
92* In ''Film/ACureForPokeritis'' (1912), possibly the first depiction of poker on film, a HenpeckedHusband pretends to join a fraternal lodge so he'll have a cover story for when he goes out to play poker.
93* [[spoiler:Scott Whitlam]] in ''Film/TheDry''. He moved to the remote country town of Kiewarra to escape his creditors, but they manage to track him down. He spends all of his evenings shoveling coins into the poker machines in the local pub.
94* The 1985 film ''Film/FeverPitch'' stars Ryan O'Neal as a sports writer with a severe gambling addiction, which gets him in trouble with many loan sharks.
95* The 1993 film ''Film/FlirtingScholar'' has a few examples played for laughs. The main character's eight wives make his life hell due to their addiction to TabletopGame/{{Mahjong}} gambling. Another the main character's brother steals his paintings to pay off gambling debts.
96* James Caan's ''Film/TheGambler'' (1974) is the definitive masterpiece.
97* In ''Film/{{Heat}}'', Chris Shiherlis, a member of [[VillainProtagonist Neil McCauley]]'s crew, spends all of his reward money from their heists gambling in UsefulNotes/LasVegas and betting on the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl. It's why his marriage is falling apart.
98* ''Film/{{The Heist|1989}}'': Dancer is a compulsive gambler who keeps making bets based on anything he can interpret as a omen; no matter how unlikely.
99* ''Film/HollowTriumph'': Only after he has [[KillAndReplace taken over Dr. Bartok's life]] does Johnny discover that Bartok had a gambling problem and is deep in debt.
100* In ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'', both the title character and the Devil. [[spoiler: While the Devil controls their relationship, he also gives up several opportunities to win because it would end their game.]]
101* Chaucer in ''Film/AKnightsTale'' arrives on the scene naked, due to losing everything gambling. He loses them again at the very next tournament and goads the others in a group to bet everything they have on William in yet another tournament.
102* In ''Film/LittleMissMarker'' Creator/ShirleyTemple's father doesn't have $20 to bet on a horse, so he ''leaves Shirley with the bookie as collateral''. When the horse doesn't win, he kills himself rather than scrounge up $20 to reclaim Shirley.
103* In ''Film/MichaelClayton'', Michael has a gambling problem that he tries to keep under control by never gambling more money than he has. He gets into trouble with a loan shark because he invested all his money in his brother's restaurant so he had to borrow more to keep up his gambling habit. It is also implied that his gambling addiction is the reason he works as TheFixer for a shady law firm as it is the only way he can earn enough to keep gambling.
104* ''Film/MollysGame'': Many of Molly's clients fall under this trope. Molly herself is also addicted to the gambling scene, albeit as the one who organizes it rather than playing.
105* In ''Film/OddsAgainstTomorrow'', Johnny Ingram is an impoverished jazz musician who doesn't wish to take part in the holdup, but reluctantly agrees to, since his losses at the racetrack have left him deeply – and dangerously – in debt to a mobster.
106* ''Film/{{The Old Dark House|1963}}'': Most of the Femms have idiosyncrasies that help them cope with their ancestor's will forcing them to return to his house every night. Casper's are going to a gambling club and playing cards every day.
107* ''Film/OwningMahowny'', a 2003 film based on the real-life story of a Canadian bank manager who embezzled money from accounts to support his gambling addiction.
108* ''Film/QuizLady'': Anne and Jenny's unseen mother is characterized mostly by being way too into gambling to be a good parent; during the first scene she's stomping out to go to a casino, when she goes missing from her care facility the first instinct is to check local casinos, and naturally she's gone off to Macau to gamble some more. She's even left her kids with her gambling debts.
109* Given the setting of the movie as an underground TabletopGame/{{poker}} world, many of the characters in ''Film/{{Rounders}}''. Only Worm might be an actual addict; Mike is able to walk away after he loses his stake and Joey Knish is a very disciplined player, delivering an impassioned speech specifically about not taking unnecessary risks lest he be unable to feed his family.
110* ''Film/SavagesCrossing'': Phil is a killer psychopath who bankrupted his family because of his gambling addiction.
111* Dr. John Watson is heavily implied to be one in Creator/GuyRitchie's ''Film/{{Sherlock Holmes|2009}}'' and [[Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows its sequel]]. This was taken from the original stories.
112* Frankie Four Fingers from ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' definitely falls under this category. Every single character that knows about his gambling tries to either desperately keep him from it, or trick him into it. He's called Four Fingers for a reason.
113* ''Film/TheSting'': Hooker is one. After completing a successful con, he blows his entire cut on a (rigged) game of roulette despite being told to lay low. This has the result of alerting the BigBad to his identity, leading to his friend Luthor's death. A conversation with another character indicates that this is a common problem of his. [[spoiler: At the end of the film, he [[KeepTheReward turns down his share of the take]] with the statement that he'd probably just blow it away again]].
114* Creator/JamesGarner's character in ''[[Film/SupportYourLocalSheriff Support Your Local Gunfighter]]'' cannot keep or win a dime for all his gambling. [[spoiler: Until the very last bet he makes and wins, making him and his new bride extremely wealthy.]]
115* In ''Film/TenDeadMen'', Harris is a gambling addict and [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] who drinks to forget his gambling losses. This combination of vices means none of the gang think it strange when he drops off the radar for a couple of days.
116* ''Film/UncutGems'' revolves around a jeweler which just can't stop gambling (specifically on basketball), to the despair of his girlfriend, his friend - and his creditors. After he makes the biggest sale of his life, he still redirects the $175,000 into a complicated gamble. [[spoiler:While it does pay off into $1.2 million, it also leads a mobster to shoot the guy in the face before he can collect it.]]
117* ''Film/TheWalkingDead1936'': ComicRelief character Betcha keeps offering bystanders on anything from the outcome of a trial to whether he catches the next green light. He doesn't win a single bet he makes in the entire film.
118[[/folder]]
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120[[folder:Literature]]
121* ''Literature/AnonymousRex'': [[DefectiveDetective Vincent Rubio]] is one. And he's really bad at it: he bets large amounts of money on games he doesn't even know, leading to him becoming indebted to a vicious criminal in the second book.
122* Phillipe Bridau from Creator/HonoreDeBalzac's ''Literature/TheBlackSheep''/''La Rabouilleuse'', who not only loses all his own money but steals all his family's money and loses that too, becoming (temporarily) destitute. Also from this book, Madame Descoignes, who, in contrast, only spends what she can afford but still puts most of her spare money on the French lotteries.
123* ''Literature/TheBoneWars'': Thad's friend Rap Stevens has devoted his life to card games and wagers, constantly winning and losing ships or enormous sums of money. He will happily bet with himself when secrecy prevents him from betting about something with anyone else.
124* ''Literature/{{The Crossing|2015}}'': A celebrity plastic surgeon has been forbidden access to his money due to a severe gambling problem. This forces him to do stuff like hand over valuable watches to the people who are blackmailing him. The handover of the watch then leads to five murders.
125%% * Nozdryov from ''Literature/DeadSouls''.
126* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
127** In ''Literature/MenAtArms'', Lord D'Eath is an ImpoverishedPatrician because his father insisted on playing Cripple Mister Onion despite being unable to tell the difference between a one and an eleven.
128** In ''Mrs Bradshaw's Guidebook to the Ankh-Morpork and Sto Plains Hygenic Railway'', Mrs Bradshaw's description of the racing town of Shankydoodle includes mention of those unfortunates for whom an occasional flutter has turned into a desperate flap.
129* ''Literature/TheGambler'', a novella by Creator/FyodorDostoevsky is the story of a young tutor who gets hopelessly addicted to playing roulette. Dostoyevsky was himself a gambling addict and wrote the book in just 30 days to pay off a gambling debt.
130* Morley Dotes from the ''Literature/GarrettPI'' novels was this trope in the early part of the series, which is why he so often had to assist Garrett on a case to pay off his debts.
131* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' gives us Ludo Bagman, a Ministry of Magic official who's introduced running a betting pool at the Quidditch World Cup. He then acts as a minor RedHerring, offering to help Harry in the tournament for reasons he keeps to himself. It turns out that, in George's words, "he's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together." He wanted to help Harry because he was betting on him to win the tournament, and the winnings would have squared his debt with goblin bankers. Since Harry [[ExactWords draws with Cedric]] instead of winning outright, Bagman goes on the run.
132%%* Viola Constant in ''Literature/LockhartAndTeague''.
133* In the ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'', this is Yuddhisthra's ''one'' FatalFlaw. He ends up [[LostHimInACardGame betting his kingdom, his brothers, and their shared wife]] in a dice game, which proves to be the last straw in the rising conflict between [[FeudingFamilies the Pandavas and the Kauravas]].
134* Mr. Farebrother in Creator/GeorgeEliot's ''Literature/{{Middlemarch}}'', who's actually quite good at whist and can supplement his paltry income by betting. This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't somewhat scandalous behaviour for a churchman. When his income increases, he gives up.
135* ''Literature/NeedfulThings'': Danforth 'Buster' Keeton III, mayor of Castle Rock, suffer from addiction to horse racing gambling leading him to embezzle money from his city. As a result, State accountants are asking him to explain irregularities, feeding his paranoia; both factors are used by Gaunt to make him his acolyte.
136* ''Literature/NickVelvet'': In "The Theft of the Bermudan Penny", the owner of the eponymous coin is an inveterate gambler who will bet on anything; even down to which of two sugar cubes will be the first one to have a fly land on it.
137* Little Nell's grandfather in Creator/CharlesDickens's ''Literature/TheOldCuriosityShop'' believes that his gambling is an investment in Nell's future that's bound to pay off and provide for her once he dies. He borrows from Quilp to sustain his habit, leading to the loss of the eponymous shop when Quilp realizes his problem and forecloses on the loans. His constant relapses, and Nell's attempts to keep him from temptation, lead to their exile from London and inability to settle in one place for most of the rest of the book.
138* Duncan Wedderburn in Creator/AlasdairGray's ''Poor Things'', during his elopement with Bella, visits a casino in Frankfurt and thinks he's worked out a system for roulette. At first, he wins large sums but inevitably loses it all the next day. Then he thinks his true strength is in card games but gets cleaned out by sharps. For the rest of the trip, he gambles away any money he's given at the first opportunity.
139* In ''Literature/RedDwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'', George [=McIntyre=] racks up huge debts to the Ganymede Mafia owing to his addiction to betting on illegal giant snail fights.
140* ''Literature/RevoltingRhymes'': In "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs", the dwarfs are compulsive gambling addicts who often go without food because they bet everything they have on horse-races. [[spoiler:Things go better when Snow White steals the wicked Queen's mirror and asks it which horse will win.]]
141* Another example from ancient India, [[OlderThanDirt Dated to 1,100 BCE or older.]]: [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rig_Veda/Mandala_10/Hymn_34 Mandala 10, Hymn 34]] (sometimes titled "Invocation of the Dice") of the ''Rig-Veda'' is the lament of a gambling addict who has lost all his property, including his wife, in games of dice.
142-->''(...) When I resolve "I will not play with them, I will remain behind when my friends depart", \
143and the brown dice, thrown on the board, have rattled, like a girl in love I seek the place of meeting. \
144The gamester seeks the gambling-house, and wonders, his body all afire, "Will I be lucky?" \
145The dice run against his desire, giving the best throws to his adversary...''
146* Cal Hotchkiss in ''Literature/RiverOfTeeth'' is unable to KnowWhenToFoldEm at the card table. His [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introductory chapter]] involves him getting his left ear cut off for cheating at cards, but the first chance he gets to play again after that, he's back to trying to cheat. [[spoiler:It swiftly ends in him getting thrown out the window to be eaten by feral hippos.]]
147* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ShadowsInZamboula'', Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian claims to be this, that he hired his room in advance to avoid losing the money to do so at the gambling table.
148* Although it's based on market arbitraging and not gambling for pleasure, ''Literature/SpiceAndWolf'''s Kraft Lawrence often takes risks for profit and makes quite a good living from it. When he hits an extreme debt, he does consider the method of gambling for pleasure as a means to pay it off.
149* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': Possibly Dr. Watson, who admits to spending "about half [his] wound pension" betting on the races. An earlier story also mentions that Watson's checkbook is kept locked in Holmes' desk and thus can only be accessed with Holmes' permission. Granting veto power on major expenditures to a trusted third party in this way was a common Victorian method for people who knew they had gambling or spending problems to keep from spending or wagering more than they could afford. Although since this is revealed in a story where Holmes deduces that Watson had decided not to make an investment in a South African mining venture because he hadn't requested access to the checkbook, Watson clearly has some control over his addiction.
150* ''Literature/{{Underground}}'': Robyn and Lucy's mother was a gambling addict, getting the family so far into debt that Robyn had to contract as a street fighter to pay it off.
151* Creator/{{Saki}}'s [[http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/WayDai.shtml "The Way to the Dairy"]] has a trio of sisters try to persuade their rich aunt not to leave money to a nephew of hers who is one of these. Unfortunately, they decide to do so by taking her to a casino the nephew frequents-- and she turns out to really, ''really'' enjoy it...
152* Nikolai Rostov in ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' loses an obscene amount of money[[note]]43,000 rubles, which today would amount to over $300,000[[/note]] to Dolokhov at cards, which doesn't help the family's suffering finances at all.
153* In ''Literature/TheWarlordChronicles'', Derfel's long-term NumberTwo is an OldSoldier who has made the equivalent of a small fortune in pay and plunder, but has never managed to hold onto any of it because he can't stop wagering it in games of chance. At one point he tells Derfel that he only has a [[OneLastJob few more years]] as a fighter left and he wants to become rich before retiring home to Ireland, to which Derfel tells him "Then you should burn your throwboard".
154
155[[/folder]]
156
157[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
158* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': In the 1974 episode "Archie the Gambler," Edith reveals that in his younger days, Archie was a hardcore gambler, his habit nearly costing them everything; he had already gambled away his car, and was this close to gambling away their house. In the latter instance, Edith puts her foot down and gives him an ultimatum: Stop gambling now, or I leave and I'm taking our daughter (Gloria, who was only 3 at the time) with me. Archie shapes up ... or -- as evidence strongly shows in this episode -- did he just get better at concealing his gambling? [[note]] Or, more likely, learnt the art of scaling it back to a manageable level. [[/note]]
159* In ''Series/TheAlmightyJohnsons'' Mike is an interesting variation. As the incarnation of the Norse god of the hunt, he cannot lose at games. However, if he uses his powers to gamble, he is quickly unable to stop and keeps on winning and winning. This obviously makes the people he plays against extremely suspicious. After one night of this, he is banned for life from the local casino and has to find underground gambling establishments to play in. The people playing in those types of places are just as unhappy about his winning streak and much more likely to employ violence. It does not help matters that when Mike is winning he becomes extremely arrogant and seems to subconsciously pick fights with dangerous people like bikers and ex-convicts.
160* In ''Series/ArchieBunkersPlace'', there was an episode called "Barney the Gambler," where Barney is now the hopeless addict, and it is up to Archie -- who does manage to quit gambling for good in the former episode (in fact, several referbacks are made to "Archie the Gambler") -- and Murray to come to Barney's rescue when bookies want to beat Barney to within an inch of his life when he doesn't have the money.
161* Nick Yemana's gambling is a RunningGag in ''Series/BarneyMiller''. He doesn't get into the financial distress common to this trope, but he's always reading the racing papers, annoys Barney with his habit of placing bets from the phone in the squadroom, tries to get tips on what horses to bet on from a suspect whose multiple personalities include a bookie, and is ''incredibly'' interested in the equipment confiscted from a synagogue that had extended their permitted "Las Vegas Weekend" event to a period of months. There's also the incident where Harris bets him he can't give up gambling (in exchange for Harris giving up smoking) and Harris gets him at the end with the phrase "I bet they don't."
162-->'''Nick:''' You're on!\
163'''Harris:''' [lighting up in self-satisfaction] ''You lose.''
164* In an episode of ''Series/BlackBooks'' Bernard Black is introduced to horse racing by Manny, promptly develops a full-blown gambling addiction and loses £20,000 in a poker game. Fortunately, Fran turns out to be a bit of a CardSharp and manages to [[ResetButton win it back]].
165* Booth from ''Series/{{Bones}}'' starts the series in recovery, having gone through a 12-step program. Although it gets brought up from time to time, it doesn't become a major plot point until he relapses and Brennan briefly kicks him out of the house in season 10.
166* Averted in Season 3 of ''Series/BreakingBad'', when Skyler falsely tells Marie that Walt has been able pay for Hank's medical bills by participating in underground gambling. It's Skyler's way of avoiding any further suspicion of where Walt's drug money comes from while still portraying Walt in the worst light she can muster.
167* Lloyd in ''Series/BreakoutKings''. His gambling seems to have played a major part in how he ended up in prison in the first place and causes him a lot of problems while he is inside.
168* Captain Holt from ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'', despite his straight-laced attitude, admits he had a gambling addiction from way back. He claims that he's kicked it, but he does relapse from time to time. His outlet for the urges seems to be his frankly insane levels of competitiveness he sometimes indulges in.
169* Nate Westen from ''Series/BurnNotice'' was characterized this way early on. He was in a good deal of debt, and couldn't be trusted with money because he would just gamble it away. He once gambled away his brother's rental car. In later seasons he seems to have gotten his act together once he gets married and has a son. However, [[spoiler: after Nate is killed]] his mother discovers that Nate owes a lot of money to some very bad people.
170* ''Series/ChicagoHope'''s Jack [=McNeil=] spent most of his tenure on the show struggling with his addiction, often relapsing under times of stress.
171* ''Series/CHiPS'' Season 1 has an episode "Rainy Day" which guest star Herb Edelman is a gambling addict.
172* In ''Series/TheCleaningLady'', Thony's husband Marco is a terrible gambling addict, to the point where she's lost friends back home because Marco kept trying to hit them up for money. Naturally, when he is reunited with her and Luca in Las Vegas, he can't resist hitting the tables, and risks blowing through the money Thony had socked away for Luca's surgery.
173* The victim of the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "The River". He got so heavily addicted to gambling on card games that he became financially ruined in spite of working as a rather well-paid surgeon.
174* Has become a trend on ''Series/CoronationStreet'', with almost half a dozen examples in as many years.
175* One of the [=UnSubs=] on ''Series/CriminalMinds'' was a hopeless gambler who kills a LoanShark and subsequently has great luck in the casino. When his lucky streak ends he kills another person and his luck seemingly returns. This convinces him that he has a superpower that makes him lucky if he kills someone he knows.
176* Warrick from ''Series/{{CSI}}''. In one episode, a rookie dies on his watch because he leaves the scene to place a bet. And by "one episode", we really mean [[EstablishingCharacterMoment the friggin' pilot]]!
177* Dr. Cunningham from ''Series/TheCultureVultures'' is known for his love of gambling. In "Rake's Progress", he attempts to use a system to predict the outcomes of a roulette wheel.
178* Nell's grandfather in ''Series/{{Dickensian}}'', as in ''The Old Curiosity Shop'', although the moneylender he's in hock to is [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Jacob Marley]].
179* ''Series/TheDoctorBlakeMysteries'': In "Measure Twice", the VictimOfTheWeek turns out to have been a regular player at an illegal poker game (the kind of thing the police would normally turn a blind eye to). While he wasn't a gambling addict, at least one of his opponents was, having recently lost his brand new car to the victim, which made him an extremely viable suspect.
180* An episode of ''[[Franchise/{{Dragnet}} Dragnet 1967]]'', "The Big Gambler", had Friday and Gannon find one when a businessman reports someone's embezzled $100,000 of company funds. Turns out the thief played both the horses (illegally through a bookie) and draw poker (at the time, legal in some cities outside of Los Angeles). He was a hopeless loser at both, and hiding the addiction from his wife by claiming he had a family in Ohio to support and a second job to help pay the bills.
181* Dave Charnley from ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey''. Every time he tries to quit, {{Jerkass}}es Damian and Henry set out to sabotage him by constantly offering him bets.
182* ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''. Oldest son Matthew becomes this after a few lucky games of poker. His reason is actually legitimate--he wants/needs money to provide for himself and his fiancee.
183* ''Series/FatherTed'':
184** The title character is heavily implied to be one. The reason he's stuck on Craggy Island is because he embezzled funds earmarked for sending a sick child to Lourdes in order to finance a trip to Vegas. Throughout the series he's continually making side bets.
185** One-off character Father Billy O'Dwyer from "Think Fast, Father Ted" is also one. Already deep in debt, he can't resist buying a ton of Ted's raffle tickets and getting even deeper in debt, which he solves by [[spoiler:stealing the raffle proceeds]].
186* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'':
187** "All Bets Are Off" reveals that Dorothy is a former gambling addict, and when she takes Rose to the local horse track for innocent reasons, the addiction quickly rears its head again. Sophia doesn't mince words about the problem, calling it "that damned gambler's disease," and tells Blanche and Rose that Dorothy nearly lost her house to loan sharks during her previous addict period. The episode ends with Dorothy admitting that she needs help and going to Gamblers' Anonymous, although since it's a CompressedVice, we never hear about it again.
188** The two-parter "Sophia's Wedding" reveals where Dorothy got her gambling problem: her father, Salvadore, was also a compulsive better. When he and his friend Max Weinstock went into business selling pizza and knishes, Sal foolishly risked a week's receipts on a horse race. Max took the fall to save Sophia's marriage, as she recognized the gambling as an issue and threatened to leave Sal over it. Other episodes also have Sophia commenting on Sal's recurring gambling issues ("His last words were 'Ten bucks says I don't need this oxygen'").
189* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'': One of Quinn's many nasty habits was gambling, and he owed money all over town. Nichols remarks that there are plenty of loan sharks and ex-friends he owed money to who would make for potential murder suspects, but also that Quinn never borrowed more than a couple of thousand from any one source, and that kind of sum is scarcely worth killing over.
190* Barney in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is repeatedly portrayed as a gambling addict, whether it's playing a Chinese game at a casino, betting on sporting events, or just accepting any challenge that comes his way. On one occasion, he actually commented how a certain activity (namely, seducing a woman while wearing overalls) was impossible. He then immediately said, "Challenge accepted!"
191-->'''Marshall:''' I bet you fifty bucks that you can't finish the marathon. \
192'''Barney:''' Well, gee, grandpa -- with that money, I can buy an ice cream cone! I bet you ten thousand dollars! \
193'''Marshall:''' You have a gambling problem, you bet me fifty dollars. \
194'''Barney:''' Fine, then no bet-- Okay, deal.
195* Albert Stroller in ''Series/{{Hustle}}''. Albert's gambling habit has landed the crew in more than one scrape and is implied to be a major reason why he has never retired from grifting.
196* ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'': The wife of the VictimOfTheWeek in "Gently Among Thieves". Deeply in debt to {{Loan Shark}}s, they come to an 'arrangement' with her that essentially amounts to prostitution.
197* Detective Ed Green on ''Series/LawAndOrder'' liked to play poker in Atlantic City for some pretty high stakes (one game had him start "up a Cadillac" and end "down a Rolex -- a stainless steel Rolex"), though this seems to fade as the show progresses. After he finds out about his ex-partner's death, he starts hitting the New York City illegal gambling circuit. It almost costs him his badge when he gets mixed up in a shooting involving some of the gamblers he fell in with.
198* Detective Amanda Rollins is a gambling addict in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. It compromises her on more than one case, and she eventually starts attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
199* Gerry in ''Series/Luck2011''. He's a whiz at horse racing, but a terrible poker player, blowing all of his track winnings on cards.
200* A subplot in season 3 of ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'' is Susie developing a gambling problem after accompanying Midge on tour to Vegas. She continues gambling when she returns to New York, to the point where even her bookie suggests she take a break after a loosing streak. It climaxes in the finale, when she loses all her money AND all Midge's money (which she was supposed to be managing) betting on boxing. She ends up burning her recently deceased mother's house down to collect insurance money so she won't have to tell Midge.
201* Joe Tranelli in ''Series/MenOfACertainAge''. Many episodes focus on the consequences of his gambling addiction, for good or ill.
202* Switek from ''Series/MiamiVice'' develops a gambling problem after [[spoiler: Zito is killed by an Oswaldo Guzman in the third season]]. The problem compounds as the show goes on and never goes away. It actually manages to get worse when he sells [[spoiler: Crockett and Tubbs out in the Series Finale.]]
203* ''Series/MidnightCaller'': Deacon's girlfriend from "Blood Red" can't stop gambling even when she's hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt because it's the only thing that makes her feel alive.
204* In ''Series/{{Mom}}'', Christy discovers that in addition to her other problems, she is also a gambling addict. She theorizes that she has always been addicted to gambling, but her alcoholism generally took precedence and left her too poor to seriously gamble. Now that she has put her life back together and is able to save up money, gambling is becoming a serious issue for her. Her Gambler's Anonymous sponsor suggests that it is a symptom of her low self-esteem. Whenever things go good for her, she has a need to gamble so her life will go back to being a mess. When she is poor and depressed, her need to gamble goes away.
205* ''Series/{{Motive}}'': One VictimOfTheWeek in "The Amateurs" is a compulsive gambler. He has been reduced to gambling in underground mahjong dens run by the Triads because he has been banned from every other joint in town. As a result, he is deeply in debt to the Triads when he is murdered.
206* ''Series/TheMurders'': In "Queen of Hearts" it's revealed a person's gambling addiction instigated the murder that's the episode's focus. Daria, the fiancée of the victim, was a gambling addict who'd gotten deep into debt over her losses. She put up her car as collateral, but then ran away instead of handing it over after losing again. The winner tracked her down, running her car off of the road, but it was actually her fiancé inside [[MurderByMistake whom he killed instead]]. She started getting help for this, but relapsed when her loss occurred.
207* The VictimOfTheWeek in the ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episode "Lone Witness" was a gambling addict who had reached the point where she was trying to place bets ''on credit'' while her bookie was asking for the money she already owed.
208* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'':
209** Earl is asked to help Kenny become more manly following a breakup. One of the things they do is gambling, and Kenny develops an addiction and loses all his possessions. Earl is not much better, either; he too becomes addicted, and his compulsive gambling indirectly causes his friend [[TheIllegal Catalina]] to be deported. Kenny eventually seeks treatment at a support group. Earl doesn't, but he really hasn't gambled since.
210** There's also Earl's ex-mother-in-law, Connie. Earl had (with help from Randy) won a brand new Dodge Neon to give to Joy (to make up for all the [[ConvenienceStoreGiftShopping thoughtless, crappy Christmas gifts]] he gave her when they were married), and Connie drove the car to the local Indian Casino and lost it. She also gambled away her husband's business, after getting him to sign it over to her, and gambled away their savings (her husband thought she was using the money to pay for dialysis.)
211* Pearl Forrester from ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' has a weakness for gambling, particularly slot machines. It even comes into play in one episode when Mike challenges her to a ShellGame and ends up winning his choice of the movie that he and the 'bots will watch. He picks ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', but ends up getting [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor more than he expected]].
212* In ''Series/Next2020'', programmer Sean Akers is a gambling addict, which makes him easy prey for Next, who offers him tips on how to win at games in exchange for attaching a wireless router to its mainframe, allowing it to connect to the Internet.
213* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Larry is revealed to have been one in the season two episode, "Double Down". This came up when a former colleague was involved in a scheme of card counting, same as they did when they were younger.
214* Oscar Madison of ''Series/{{The Odd Couple|1970}}''. He's perennially broke due to all the money he loses, so he repeatedly borrows and, on rare occasions, outright ''steals'' large sums from his friend Felix.
215%%* Kevin from ''Series/TheOfficeUS''.
216* Max Holden on ''Series/OneLifeToLive'', who within a few short months, went from a blissful newlywed to someone who nearly destroyed his business, his friendship with his partner, and his marriage with his rapidly developed addiction.
217* ''Series/ThePact'': Nancy's husband Richard is one. He started by losing 10,000 pounds on a horse race, and tried to get it back unsuccessfully, while losing increasing amounts of money. All of their bank accounts are empty, he lost their investments and put the couple's cars up as collateral (so they get repossessed). Nancy naturally is angry and fearful about this. Richard also owes a {{loan shark}}, who beats him up for late payments. [[spoiler:She blackmails her own friends for money anonymously to recoup his losses.]]
218* An episode of ''Series/PromisedLand1996'' has the Greene family trying to help one of these whose problem has become so severe that his car has been repossessed, his life is being threatened by bookies, and he's bordering on becoming abusive to his daughter when she refuses to give him the money he had given her to save to pay the rent.
219* Alan Townsend in ''Series/{{Reaper}}''. He can't stop himself from gambling even when he knows that it would void his deal with the Devil and send him straight to Hell.
220* Toby Curtis from ''Series/{{Scorpion}}''. His skill as a behaviorist helps him in reading the other players, but he can never quit while he's ahead.
221* On ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' Kramer seems to have a gambling problem, though that only comes up in the one episode where it's a major plot point (though it was arguably alluded to in another, earlier one).
222* ''Series/TheSopranos'':
223** David Scatino from Season 2. Even worse for him, the people he gets into bed with are TheMafia, namely Tony Soprano. After a few bad poker games, Tony and his crew basically take over his whole business and drive him into bankruptcy. He ends up losing his family and is later, according to Meadow, committed to a mental institution.
224** Tony himself becomes one towards the end of the series. At one point, he tries to get Carmela to use the profits from a house sale to place a bet on the New York Jets. His inability (or unwillingness) to pay his debts (incurred due to gambling losses) basically ruins his friendship with trusted confidant and advisor Hesh Rabkin.
225* LoserProtagonist Gi-hun Seong from ''Series/SquidGame''. After losing his job to mass layoffs and watching a coworker get beaten to death by riot police right in front of him, the subsequent trauma leads to him developing a crippling gambling addiction that ruins his life. His wife leaves him for a well-off businessman and takes their daughter, and Gi-hun's stuck [[BasementDweller living with his aging mother in a small apartment]] while stealing what little money they have to feed his addiction or fend off the LoanShark he owes. He joins the DeadlyGame in the hopes of using the prize money to win his [[TakingTheKids custody battle]] and avoid being [[OrganTheft mutilated by his creditors]], but tries to escape only to discover that [[HealthcareMotivation his mother's dying from untreated diabetes]] because he cancelled their insurance in order to have more gambling money.
226* In ''Series/StanLeesLuckyMan'', the title character Harry is a compulsive gambler whose addiction has destroyed his marriage and left him millions of pounds in debt to a [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triad]] casino owner. The plot kicks off when a woman gives him a Tang Dynasty bracelet that [[GoodLuckCharm grants supernatural luck]]. Among the roller coaster of events that unfolds, it helps Harry kick his addiction because it's not gambling if you always win.
227* In ''Series/{{Suits}}'', one of Harvey's clients is a gambling and alcohol addict who went OffTheWagon in an Atlantic City casino. The man lost 3 million dollars on a single hand of poker. A horrified Harvey then finds out that the gambler obtained the chips by using his 34 million dollar company as collateral for a loan. The man wanted to gamble so badly that he could not even wait to have money transferred to him from his bank and made a ludicrous deal with a total stranger.
228* In the ''Series/{{Superstore}}'' episode "Seasonal Help" Jonah mentions he's had some trouble with gambling in the past, and after he shrugs off making a tiny bet early in the episode it quickly spirals into him running an entire gambling ring betting on which seasonal workers will quit when. He gets so passionate about it others are disturbed because he's usually so level-headed.
229* Toby from ''Series/SwitchedAtBirth'' is a teenaged version.
230* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E17TheFever The Fever]]" features a man who abhors gambling who travels to Las Vegas with his wife (who won a contest) and is forced by a drunk to put a dollar token into a slot machine, and winds up winning some money. Despite his efforts to run away from the slots, he hears the slot machine literally calling his name, and winds up addicted to the point where he thinks it's alive, and [[KarmicTwistEnding he might be right]].
231* The VictimOfTheWeek in one ''Series/WithoutATrace'' episode turns out to have been trying to help a friend who was afflicted with this, to the point that they were pulling illegal stunts to obtain the money to pay off his debts.
232[[/folder]]
233
234[[folder:Music]]
235* Music/TheAlanParsonsProject made ''Turn of a Friendly Card'', essentially an entire album loosely based on this trope.
236* Music/RayCharles: "Blackjack" chronicles a man addicted to TabletopGame/{{Blackjack}}, frustrated by losing so much money and feeling only himself to blame.
237* The classic song "House of the Rising Sun" has the male singer relating his depressing life and his slide into gambling addiction and habit of picking up prostitutes at the eponymous house of ill repute in New Orleans.
238* Music/{{Motorhead}}'s "Ace of Spades", which practically became their SignatureSong.
239-->''You know I'm born to lose and gambling's for fools.\
240 But that's the way I like it, baby,\
241 I don't wanna live forever!\
242 And don't forget the joker!''
243* Music/JimmieRodgers "Mother, The Queen of My Heart" involves a man who, against their mother's dying wishes, takes up gambling as a pastime and eventually bets all of his money in a card game. He does end up winning but gives them to a newsboy out of guilt.
244* Music/KennyRogers' signature song "The Gambler" details the train-rider narrator having a conversation with a man of this sort.
245* Music/WarrenZevon's song "Lawyers, Guns and Money" describes a "down on his luck" gambler humorously pleading for help while on the run (presumably from creditors, among others) in Latin America.
246[[/folder]]
247
248[[folder:Video Games]]
249* Jaeyun in ''VideoGame/{{Brawlhalla}}'' was a very skilled mercenary who would often lose all the amazing riches he made in absurd bets. He hasn't changed much in Valhalla, since he loves making huge anonymous side-bets on himself.
250-->As a soldier of fortune he won treasure beyond counting -- at least he never counted it himself before he gambled it away.
251* Peter Battley in ''VideoGame/TheCaseOfTheGoldenIdol'' has a serious gambling addiction, which has caused him a number of problems; he has often written to family members asking them for money, and is rarely seen without a horse-racing betting slip in his pockets. His addiction led his wealthy uncle Sebastian to all but write him out of his will, leaving him only a book of aphorisms on how to live healthy.
252* In ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', the eponymous character has a gambling problem, the Devil offering him [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame all the treasure in Hell if he wins]] was too tempting to pass up, and having lost [[NiceJobBreakingItHero ends up getting him and his brother Mugman into quite a mess]].
253* Shows up as a negative quirk in ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon''. Characters who develop a gambling addiction can only reduce Stress by gambling. This is one of the more annoying "stress restriction" quirks, since characters who are at the Gambling Hall are apt to lose significant amounts of gold on the table (they can also ''win'' gold, but it's not as likely). If they also get the quirk "Known Cheat" (which renders them PersonaNonGrata at the Gambling Hall), they can't reduce their Stress ''at all'', leaving you with the SadisticChoice of either spending a great deal of gold getting one quirk or the other cured or kicking the character out of the roster.
254* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
255** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', Maya's gambling addiction leads her to spend all of her sister Meena's [[FortuneTeller fortune-telling]] profits at Endor's casino, leaving them stranded in the city until TheHero arrives to recruit them for his quest.
256** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Tuppence loves gambling a bit too much, although he knows he's not that good at it.
257* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': With the Heart's Desire ambition being a massive card game, it's only natural those addicted would get involved; and in fact, your final opponent is very much addicted to the game of the Marvelous. And you can use it against him, as the game can keep going and be played again so long as the players keep adding bets and the other ones accept them; with this last enemy, you can just keep playing until you win. And even rub it in his face by betting ''[[ComicallySmallBribe one penny]]'' in what is otherwise an AbsurdlyHighStakesGame, and have him accept it anyways. [[spoiler:And he hates it. He hates it so much that when you beat him, thus losing him his chance to just cancel the game forever like he wanted, he'll just bet the entirety of his mind and instantly fold, effectively committing suicide because he's ''tired'' of how much he loves the damn game. [[CruelMercy You don't have to accept his bet, either]]]].
258* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
259** [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. At the old Mormon fort the Follower of the Apocalypse use as an outpost to provide relief to Freeside, quite a few gamblers can be found receiving treatment.
260** Vault 21 was a Vault composed entirely of gamblers who settled everything through games of chances. As far as Vaults went, they actually managed to sustain their way of life for a long time until the day they encountered [[TheChessmaster Robert]] [[BornLucky House]], who won the rights to their Vault in a game of Blackjack and converted it into a casino.
261* Makalov, from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''. Both he and his sister Marcia lost their jobs in the Begnion Army because of his gambling (and the huge debts he got into).
262* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', Roman's gambling debt puts himself into trouble with the mafia and being a reason Niko came into the country.
263* Many characters in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' are exemplars of this trope, none more so than everyone's favorite Speed Demon.
264-->'''Manny:''' I don't think their place is any more "V.I.P." than ours, do you?\
265'''Glottis:''' I don't know, I-I-I t-try to stay away from t-that p-p-place...\
266'''Manny:''' Really? Why?\
267'''Glottis:''' 'Cause of my... my... my Problem.\
268''[sounds of running feet fading into the distance]''
269* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', Russell the scholar is in debt from gambling, [[spoiler:which is why he steals and sells tomes from the library]].
270** A more humorous example occurs with Z'aanta, who is frequently mocked by other characters for the amount of trouble he gets into while gambling.
271* ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
272** Youji Isshiki, [[MissionControl Futaba's]] uncle, is in debt from heavy gambling and failed business ventures, which is why he tries to shake down Sojiro for money. His Shadow reveals that he felt quite a rush when he got his first win, and you can respond by calling him a gambling addict.
273** Futaba's ChildhoodFriend Kana was forced by her AbusiveParents to become a FanserviceModel, keeping her out of school to earn money to [[TrappedByGamblingDebts pay off their gambling debts]] in lieu of them simply getting jobs. After the Thieves [[HeelFaceBrainwashing change their hearts]], they admit that it started as them just wanting to put food on the table for her but it spiraled out of control.
274* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
275** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'': "Explorers of the Sky" is host to an Octillery explorer who -- once the café opens early in the game -- will subsequently spend all her time there continuously trying to win that Big Prize Draw run by Wynaut and failing. She ''knows'' she shouldn't continue but does so anyway!
276** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', it's mentioned that gym leader Maylene's father is a neglectful gambling addict.
277** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' introduces us to Grimsley, a Dark-type trainer and member of the Unova Elite Four. [[AllThereInTheManual According to developer interviews]], as a child, he was the son of a wealthy family that lost their fortune and fell into poverty. This led to him betting on Pokemon battles in an attempt to regain his family's wealth; by the time he reached adulthood, he had become a full-blown gambling addict. He reappears in VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon with ExhaustedEyeBags and grey streaks in his hair, presumably due to money-related stress.
278* ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'': Hollis Forstyhe, acting leader of the Psyhconauts in place of the incapacitated Truman Zanotto, briefly becomes this thanks to Razputin tampering with her mind. During "Hollis' Hospital", Razputin tries to convince her to take him and his fellow interns along on a mission by manipulating her thoughts. This has [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the unfortunate side effect]] of convincing Agent Forsythe that gambling can solve the Psychonauts' financial problems, even though she'd be in hot water if she got caught using her psychic powers to cheat. Raz must go back into Agent Forsythe's mind to undo the damage he did, and finds that Forsythe's memories of working in a hospital before joining the Psychonauts have been merged with the motif of a casino to become "[[CasinoPark Hollis' Hot Streak]]" (complete with the embodiment of a gambling addiction as the level boss).
279* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', you can make a character this by having them have a blackjack table or slot machine which they constantly play (or put the Lucky Simoleon casino in your town/have your town be Lucky Palms and have your sim hang out there all the time) and/or by buying Lotto Tickets at the grocery store post University Life expansion.
280* Before the zombie outbreak hit, Javier Garcia from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonThree'' was a professional baseball player with a serious gambling problem, which eventually became so severe that he was kicked out of the major leagues for betting on his own games.
281* Masayoshi Tanimura from ''VideoGame/Yakuza4'' will often [[ProfessionalSlacker skip out on work]] to gamble instead, with horse racing and mahjong seeming to be his favourites. While this doesn't lead to financial troubles - on the contrary, he makes enough bank to support a program that helps immigrant children - it's still a nasty habit, and his guardian expresses concern about it becoming full-blown addiction. He's right to be worried; Tanimura discovering a new gambling hall ends up with him playing a game of ''{{Russian roulette}}'' for a measly 3 million yen (roughly equivalent to $20,000, which would be nothing to sneeze at if lives weren't on the line).
282[[/folder]]
283
284[[folder:Visual Novels]]
285* ''VisualNovel/Aquarium2022'': Trying to impress Theo with the ring tossing game in the bonus chapter, Aqua goes through effectively five stages of grief before she finally got one in.
286* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', Glen Elg, the victim in the third case, had extensive gambling debts, which resulted in him borrowing a lot of money from Furio Tigre. Ironically, the one time he wins big is what gets him murdered: He has invented a computer virus worth a fortune to pay off his debt to Furio Tigre, but before he hands it over, his lottery number hits, winning him enough money to pay off his debt to Tigre by simply handing over his ticket. [[spoiler:Tigre, who's in a massive debt of his own that he needs to pay off that the lottery ticket won't cover, murders him and steals the virus.]]
287* Ban from ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG''. Made apparent at the beginning of the Screaming Author case, where he extorts 5'000 yen from Akira and immediately gambles it all away at pachinko. Rosé's comment on the matter suggests this is a recurring problem, which he proves throughout the later chapters.
288[[/folder]]
289
290[[folder:Web Animation]]
291* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5v2P-qFQj0 Yuta]] is an unemployed gambling addict who spends his free time at a pachinko store. When Kasuhiko, a delinquent and high school bully of his, steals and uses up all of Yuta's extra baskets of steel balls (which he bought to maximize his chances of winning), he uses the amount he won until then on the slots, where he meets Mr. Matsuhira.
292* Some of the ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'' idols are self-professed gacha addicts of the leviathan-variety, namely Suisei, Fubuki, Polka and Ina. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w2Srw4YBXc The former two notably got riled up by]] [[StraightMan Subaru]] when she got confused over their whaling and asked "Isn't [Kalim] just a card?", while Polka once freaked Nene out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ1AfrHpST4 by sinking so much money into dud pulls right in front of her]].
293* ''WebAnimation/MoniRobo'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhN8YVPvxec Satou's father]] is addicted to gambling. It was so bad that he had to sign a contract to never gamble again in front of both Satou's mother's family and his own family. He broke his promise and kept gambling and accumulated a debt of $50,000.
294* ''WebAnimation/RefreshingStories'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5U4Z_3HF0k "This woman sent the wrong message to the PTA chat and exposed her own affair,"]] [[spoiler:Rin's former husband, Shuhei, is revealed to be one despite being rumored to be the owner of a casino; it turns out he lied about that to seem attractive to ladies.]]
295* ''WebAnimation/TroubleBusters'': Akashi's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53szENz1Guo mother]] was addicted to gambling to the point where she stole his money given by his grandparents and even once abandoning Akashi to go to the pinball machine. She ran off and forced Akashi's father to repay the debt.
296[[/folder]]
297
298[[folder:Web Comics]]
299* Chapter 21 of ''Webcomic/FurryFightChronicles'' reveals that Cookie got her huge debt because of gambling. Due to lack of income for two years, Cookie resorted to gambling to keep herself going. However, her poor luck made her lose all the money she had, and even get serious debts that she's yet to pay.
300* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter001/ib001.html evidentially a problem]]: defaulters are threatened with being thrown into the GladiatorGames next time.
301[[/folder]]
302
303[[folder:Web Videos]]
304* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'':
305** PlayedForLaughs in Slimecicle's case. He accidentally gets addicted to using the slot machine in Las Nevadas during his first lore stream, which he calls "a feeling in [his] stomach", to [[CloudCuckooLandersMinder Quackity's]] annoyance.
306** In the ''Tales From the SMP'' episode "The Wild West", the banker, Percy, is said to have a gambling problem which, according to [[SaloonOwner John John]], depleted his bank vault far more than the loan that he took out to open the saloon.
307* Turns out that [[Creator/{{Egoraptor}} Arin]] might well have this problem, shown on the ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' playthrough of ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Xtreme 3: Fortune''. There's an option to go to the casino, and Arin naturally goes there, making repeated long-odds bets on 23 with his "Fortress of Solitude" by stacking tons of chips on and around said choice, eventually coming out with a roughly 60K profit for a net total of over 450K. In spite of that, Danny comes back the next day to a surprise when he finds Arin window-shopping with only 27K left.
308-->'''Arin:''' I've got... no money.\
309'''Danny:'''...why?\
310'''Arin:''' ''[mumbling into his hands]'' I spent it all on gambling.\
311''[Danny bursts out laughing]''\
312'''Arin:''' [[BlatantLies But it's okay]].\
313''[Danny laughs even harder]''
314* ''LetsPlay/HoboBros'': Played for laughs in their playthrough of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey''. The bros discover a room, which Kevin dubs "the casino", with a slot machine-like minigame that requires 10 coins to play. Kevin gets so determined to win the minigame that he starts to gamble away all their money, to Luke's protest. When they go back out to collect more coins, Kevin makes it clear that he intends to spend them at "the casino". The episode in which this happens is even titled "Gambling is Bad" as a reference to this scene.
315* ''WebVideo/Jerma985'' has a habit of playing [[BettingMiniGame Betting Mini Games]], sometimes for hours at a time, in any game that offers them, usually ending with losing it all at the end. He also makes superficial bets against his chat, which is how his $2.5 billion "[[TrappedByGamblingDebts gambling debt saga]]" started. It might've gotten this bad even since he moved to Las Vegas.
316* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': After finding his way to the Snapdragon Casino, Shep proceeds to blow his entire fortune he came to seek away on the roulette wheel by always betting on the wheel landing on the rarest option, then his residence on the Isles and even his sword. By the time he's done, he's gone from being one of the wealthiest pirates on the Isles to having less than 100 gold to his name.
317[[/folder]]
318
319[[folder:Western Animation]]
320* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'', this is Fu Dog's biggest vice. In the first episode alone, he bets on how well Jake does against his arch-enemies!
321* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'': Granny is addicted to her computer poker game in the episode "Addicted" and she disturbs her family through the odor of her onion crisps. Her son offers to pay the trip in exchange for her termination of gambling and he gives her his anti-addiction gas remedy. Rather than inhaling the gas, she sells it online to her neighbor, lies to her son that she needs additional vials for her recovery (so she can sell more vials to the neighbor for greed), and preserves her poker addiction.
322* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Fred Flintstone had a severe gambling problem, to the point where simply mentioning the word "bet" in his presence caused him to get a crazy look in his eyes and start repeating the word over and over. This is later brought up in a ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode, but then turns to the camera claiming [[DudeNotFunny it isn't funny]] and you should seek help as gambling addiction is a real problem.
323* In a CompressedVice example, Sir Roderick becomes one in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gawayn}}'', even [[LostHimInACardGame gambling away his squire]].
324* In ''WesternAnimation/Hero108'', Commander [=ApeTrully=] displays a problem with gambling in the episode "Crocodile Castle". To win an audience with the king, he has to match 3 yoyo icons on a slot machine, and because all of the slot machines are rigged to never match 3 yoyo icons, he ends up spending a lot of gold and most of his own energy.
325* Soccer-themed cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Hurricanes}}'' has Jackson Black, a casino owner who would take any bet. [[BigBad Stavros Garkos]] won Black's ecosphere and his soccer-themed resort in a rigged roulette game. Because Garkos had to agree to offer Black a chance to win back whatever he lost, Black decided to bet the Hurricanes would win the upcoming Hurricanes versus [[OpposingSportsTeam Gorgons]] soccer game. [[spoiler:The Hurricanes won]]. Hurricanes coach Jock Stone considers Black as someone with ''more money than common sense''.
326* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Mr. Cat bets on horse races, poker games and other such things fairly often and, depending on the episode, either makes or loses large amounts of money that way. In some cases, he also makes bets which get out of hand and culminate in him being harmed in some way.
327* Buck Strickland from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''.
328* In the ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheThreeCaballeros'' episode "Thanks a Camelot", Merlin is portrayed as this. (Well, the word "gambling" is never actually used, but he says King Arthur won't let him play games because of his "problem", and he doesn't realise the coins he's winning in the phone game he becomes obsessed with aren't real.)
329* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
330** The cartoon "Early to Bet" has a literal gambling bug whose bites causes gambling addiction.
331--->'''Narrator:''' Remember folks, the gambling bug will get you if you don't watch out.\
332'''Gambling Bug:''' ''[mockingly]'' "Remember folks, the gambling bug will get you if you don't watch out." And I will too.
333** An earlier Warner Bros. cartoon, 1938's "Now That Summer Is Gone" has a young squirrel who cannot stop gambling, in spite of his father's orders to stop.
334* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "My Shiny Friend", Stimpy has an addiction to watching television. At the end of the short, he appears to have reformed, but it turns out he switched to...gambling.
335* WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} becomes this in the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney cartoon]] "[[GetRichQuickScheme Get Rich Quick]]". Here, Goofy plays the role of George Geef, who enjoyed spending his hard-earned dough on a chance to make an easy buck, only to get reprimanded by his wife (or worse, [[EasyComeEasyGo have her take his winnings to pay the bills]]).
336* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
337** Krusty the Klown is constantly betting on sporting events. Covering these bets has gotten into trouble in several episodes; "Krusty Gets Busted" has Krusty's gambling losses used as a possible motive as why he would commit armed robbery, and in "Homie the Clown" he squanders the money he made from his clown college by betting against the Harlem Globetrotters ("I thought the Generals were due!"), getting targeted by the mafia as a result. In "A Tale of Two Springfields," Krusty is ''such'' a Gambling Addict that he wakes up from anesthesia to take part in a bet.
338--->''(the electricity goes out)''\
339'''Nurse''': Oh no. You can't do heart surgery in the dark.\
340'''Dr. Hibbert''': Sounds like a wager to me.\
341'''Krusty''': ''(waking up like nothing's happening)'' I'll take a piece of that.
342** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E10Springfield $pringfield]]" [[Characters/TheSimpsonsMargeSimpson Marge Simpson]] becomes addicted to slot machines when a casino's built in Springfield, and shows this trait occasionally in subsequent episodes.
343** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E14LisaTheGreek Lisa the Greek]]", [[Characters/TheSimpsonsLisaSimpson Lisa Simpson]] had a nightmare that she might end up becoming one after learning Homer only used her to help him gamble.
344* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS7E7RedMansGreed Red Man's Greed]]", Gerald Broflovski loses $37,000 at a NativeAmericanCasino, underwritten by the family's house. Later, when the Native Americans threaten to take over South Park, the townsfolk pool their resources and bet it on a single roulette number in a last-ditch effort to save the town. They win, giving them the money they need and a bit extra on top, but Gerald convinces them to let it all ride on another spin, and they lose everything. Stan calls the townsfolk out on this, but Randy just tells him to drop it.
345[[/folder]]
346----
347->''"[[VideoGame/MassEffect3 I've lost a lot of money.]] [[https://youtu.be/kFjHLzAnOE8?t=347 Who can I talk to about getting it back?]]"''

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