My dad is a compulsive gambler. He was an accountant who managed to put away a half a million for retirement. He gambled all my life. I thought it was normal for a man to drive over an hour into the city 3 or 4 times a week after work to "play the ponies". In all honestly, I was delighted when he went because he wasn't at home miserable raging at me if I made a noise or looked at him funny. He kinda kept somewhat control of it whilst still working but once he retired...he blew all the money and his marriage to my mother (a classic codependent who kept all the family ducks in a row).
I grew up with a man either short tempered from jonesing for a fix or hating himself for being a slave to something he didn't have control over.
Behavioral or substance addictions all come from the same place. I highly recommend a book called "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" where the author (and doctor) compares his classical music addiction to the skid row addicts he treats. When in his addiction, he was as absent from his life as any substance induced high.
My dad is a gambler and I am an alcoholic. I am the apple that fell from his tree and did my best to survive in his bushel.