> while a portion of this rise obviously consists of troubled/[...], a huge part of the rise of gambling is from desperation

Is that really so? It's a get-rich-quick scheme and absolutely no one is under any illusions otherwise, including the people gambling their rent money. They know it's a very long shot and that most people don't make bank, but they hope it'll go different for them.

WallStreetBets, just another form of gambling, is filled with posts of people losing everything but it doesn't seem to stop newbies.

The gap between troubled/problem/addicted and "desperate" has to be paper thin, if it exists at all.