I have struggled a little bit with a gambling problem. I've never used bill money to gamble, but I've taken cash advances against credit cards and will often gamble away all the money in my checking account. I was even thinking about blacklisting myself from the casinos in missouri where I live, but my husband actually talked me out of it because I don't go that often and it's kinda like my therapy. I have a brokerage account I use for savings and a 401k that I've never been tempted to touch for gambling, because it's only once I'm in the casino that I get stupid with my money. What I've done now though to keep it from being a problem is called my credit card company and asked them not to allow cash advances on my credit card and as soon as I get paid I will pay my bills and put all my extra money except for $200 towards extra debt payments (student loans and a wedding loan, not gambling debt). That way if I do go to a casino I only have 200 to lose for 2 weeks.

As far as whether or not poker is gambling... I think that all depends on how you treat it. If I go to a casino to play poker, but the tournament ends or the table closes, I will be very tempted to go play in the casino, so that doesn't help my addiction. If you treat poker as a form of gambling by playing above your BR, or making stupid calls "just one time", than poker is gambling. If you practice good BR management and stick to what you can afford, or even better, grind out a BR from freerolls and work your way up, well then I think all poker players have a gambling addiction to some degree, but it isn't a problem.