The number of people looking for help with betting problems is up by more than 20% in a year, according to a charity dealing with gambling addicts.
Nine thousand more people contacted Gamcare last year than in 2007.
Adrian Scarf from the charity says more than a third of those who get in touch are aged between 18 to 25 and many are students.
He said: "They gamble away their grants. They start stealing from friends or borrowing from friends.
"They steal from the family. They get into so much difficulty that in the end they're losing so much they might have to give up their study."
The charity has concerns students are increasingly getting hooked to online gambing to try to pay off their loans.
The Gambling Commission, the industry watchdog, says there are up to 300,000 problem gamblers are in Britain.
Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/health/newsid_10000000/newsid_10002200/10002246.stm
