While exact numbers of those affected by gambling addiction aren't known, it's an issue that community leaders say has divided families, causes stress and can lead to suicidal ideation and crime.

(There is no state or national survey that examines gambling addiction by ethnicity, and problem gambling can affect anyone across various demographic factors, Cyndi Maivia, chief of the California Department of Public Health Office of Problem Gambling, said in an email.).

During Lunar New Year, gambling activities are expected to rise in the Asian American community, said Paul Hoang, founder of the Moving Forward Psychological Institute and the nonprofit group Viet-C.A.R.E., which was created to respond to the mental health needs of the Vietnamese community.

Timothy Fong, professor of psychiatry and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, said gambling in Asian culture is rooted in different areas.

Apart from cultural values, casinos market aggressively toward Asian Americans, Fong said.

Although gambling addiction is a prevalent issue among Asian Americans — particularly among Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and Vietnamese, Fong said — treatment options are limited.

In California, for instance, there are 206 certified gambling counselors, about two dozen of whom speak Asian languages.

Hoang is one of three Vietnamese gambling addiction certified providers in the state and the only one based in Orange County, which is home to approximately 200,000 Vietnamese Americans, according to the 2010 Census.

He said that in Orange County, there aren't any anti-gambling campaigns or initiatives specifically targeted to the Asian American community.

“That’s very relevant for our Asian community, because we are family- and community-focused rather than just focused on the individual.”.

The family sought and continues to receive help from the California Gambling Education and Treatment Services (CalGETS) program, which offers free gambling addiction treatment.

Community advocates have called for more research on the impact of gambling addiction on Asian Americans

more recently than other groups, like Chinese Americans, so there's even less resources to support them with gambling addiction

“We wanted to make sure that for this problem, which isn’t just in the Chinese community, we get the data to really make the case for services for the wider Asian community,” he said