Depends on the point of view. If your biggest risk is you spending that loan money on gambling, then yes paying the debt early would help you get in less trouble.
From an economic point of view, if you don’t need that money at the moment, you should invest it, so that you can make a few bucks. If you get 1-2% more on every transaction that way, it really does stack up at the end, since this will make you exponentially more money.