Gambling is a form of entertainment that involves placing bets on the outcome of a game. It can range from a small amount of money to a life-changing jackpot. Gambling can be done at casinos, racetracks and even online. People with a gambling addiction may have difficulty controlling their behavior and can be at risk of losing money and straining relationships.

People who gamble often develop a problem because of their distorted view of the odds involved in games. This is known as biased attribution. Having this view distorts their sense of how likely something is to happen, and can lead them to take risks and overspend.

Those who have a gambling disorder will also experience a loss of control over their gambling. They will have a hard time stopping and may try to find ways to justify their addiction, such as lying to family members or hiding evidence of their gambling habits. They will also spend more and more of their income on gambling, which can cause financial hardship.

In the past, the psychiatric community regarded pathological gambling as an impulse-control disorder—similar to other disorders like kleptomania and trichotillomania (hair pulling). However, in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the Psychiatric Association moved gambling disorder from the impulse control category to the behavioral addictions chapter. This change was based on the growing evidence that gambling disorder is similar to other addictions in terms of biology, brain function, comorbidity and treatment.