For Peter Bradley, a licensed professional counselor at the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, the similarities to gambling are obvious. "Excessive amount of time doing the behavior, continuing despite negative consequences, there are even withdrawal symptoms when they discontinue use," Bradley says. "Kids will even say, similar to gambling addicts, that they could actually make a living doing this. Sure, there's money to be made, but very few people will be successful at this. The goal of the problem gambler is to be successful. That's exactly what the goal is for the gamer."