This session focuses on individual risk factors and how they interact with gambling product characteristics to shape gambling behavior. It combines insights from studies in humans using gambling simulations with findings from biological manipulations in animal models examining gambling-related behaviors. Dr. Cherkasova will present findings from land-based and online slot machine simulation studies that elucidate how structural characteristics of these products combine with personal characteristics of consumers to influence gambling experience and behavior. Dr. Vonder Haar will present findings from a rat model informing how traumatic brain injuries modify risk for gambling disorder and how to use this to better understand the biology of GD. Together, these insights will inform a broader understanding of how the interplay between individual vulnerabilities and gambling product characteristics can guide strategies for prevention, treatment, and policy. Learning Objectives: Following the session, the attendees will be able to: 1) Identify several individual risk factors for developing gambling problems 2) Identify several structural characteristics of gambling products associated with gambling harm 3) Identify brain areas relevant to disordered gambling and maladaptive decision making