Indeed, the only way that can help us from gambling is self-control, it is true that someone who does not want to get too far involved in addiction there they must be stricter in setting limits - limits to then do. One of the dangerous diseases in gambling is not accepting the defeat they have experienced, and this is very likely to make them an addicted gambler, this is a fact that is in accordance with my experience, where those who have an easily provoked personality will certainly not accept all defeats and they will continue to return with the aim of returning the defeat in the previous time. Well it's true that we have to think to the initial thought that gambling is just for fun and to fill spare time when bored, actually what makes it difficult for us to face this problem is because we ourselves have too much ambition there, if we only consider gambling for fun activities, in my opinion, negative things might not be felt because we are just playing and not by pursuing something.
Those boundaries must be clear to stay on the right track and not lose self-control. And even though many have lost self-control, it makes us realize that maintaining self-control is not easy and must be practiced all the time. Accepting loss is necessary for every gambler so that their losses do not easily provoke them. Instead of stopping gambling, they instead choose to continue playing gambling. And that is why we must always remember that gambling is just for fun and fun. And if we have experienced consecutive defeats, we must remember to stop immediately so that the number of our losses does not increase and we can also reduce the money lost at the gambling table. We can do it because we don't play gambling to chase victory but only to have fun so we have to know ourselves and not forget those limits.
I think what we can do in this case is to add other activities, I know that self-control is the only thing that can help someone not to sink too far but on the other hand we also have to realize that every human being has lust and also high curiosity in any case, so if we only rely on self-control alone in my opinion it is not enough, while you apply some self-control such as certain limits you should also look for new activities to fill the free time. Believe me the feeling of wanting to gamble always arises when you have a lot of time, and if you have a lot of activities then your mind will be distracted from gambling and you will be busy with your new activities.
Adding other activities can also be a good choice so that our minds can be distracted and not only think about gambling. After all, it will keep us busy doing other things or activities, and we can leave gambling for a while. And the busier we are doing other things, it can help us to control ourselves so we don't return to gambling for a while. I agree with what you said that the desire to gamble will always arise but with strong self-control, we can certainly handle it well, especially by having other activities, we will not be influenced to return to gambling in a short time. And it seems that this method can be used by any gambler who wants to reduce his gambling activities so that there will be no feeling of wanting to return to gambling while doing other activities.