According to the American Psychiatric Association, in order to be diagnosed as a pathological gambler, someone must meet five of the ten criteria below:

• Committing crimes to get money to gamble
• Feeling restless or irritable when trying to cut back or quit gambling
• Gambling to escape problems or feelings of sadness or anxiety
• Gambling larger amounts of money to try to make back previous losses
• Having had many unsuccessful attempts to cut back or quit gambling
• Losing a job, relationship, or educational or career opportunity due to gambling
• Lying about the amount of time or money spent gambling
• Needing to borrow money due to gambling losses
• Needing to gamble larger amounts of money in order to feel excitement
• Spending a lot of time thinking about gambling, such as remembering past experiences or ways to get more money with which to gamble