At first, you need to assess yourself where you are at in gambling. So you know beforehand what you need to do before you plunge into this addictive activity. Hard to get out if you are already too deep in this game. As much as possible you should know how to contain yourself in front of your games.
An important factor that a gambler needs to understand before stepping into this activity, as you mentioned it's an addictive activity that you may fall if you are not careful with your finances and your time, there are gambler who at first intend just to have some fun but when they've got deeply engage to this activity they'll failed to control and limit their participation ending them losing a lot and regret with that mistake that they've done.
Though it happened both online and offshore casinos but it's more prone when you are using online services as the access is too easy and all the transactions are quickly being process.