"The issue we have in our communities is people often overlook the fact that Lotto is a form of gambling. We often ask people to fill out gambling questionnaires and are given the response, 'No thanks, I don't gamble', yet 90 per cent of the time [they] tick the Lotto and scratchies box."
Lotto spending was the primary mode of gambling for 12 per cent of problem gambling among clients, he said.
Increasing the level of transparency around how much was lost to gambling in the Wairarapa was important as it was often dressed up as something that helped the community.
But in reality gambling "ripped its heart out", Mr Broughton said.
Nationally, Kiwis spent more than $211.5 million on Lotto tickets in the 16 weeks and close to $28 million in the last week.
Lotto shop staff around the country had to cope with lines out the door as the jackpot hit new highs each week.
The windfall was eventually won by a West Auckland man, who became the largest-ever individual Powerball winner when he claimed his prize.
Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand acting CEO Graham Aitken said playing Lotto met all the criteria for gambling.
"They're still putting money at risk and in this case you can't really have any influence over the outcome."
While the foundation didn't see many people who had problems with Lotto, it was still addictive, Mr Aitken said.
"Those people have got to a situation where they keep going back, even though they don't have the money to do it.
"Some of our counsellors .... they're quite bothered that there's a kick-on effect for some people, who find Lotto normalises the experience and thus try other [forms of gambling]."
Even so, about 80 per cent of New Zealanders bought a Lotto ticket every year, he said.
"You get up to quite a prize like this one, and all sorts of people start buying tickets and - worse still - they start buying bundles of them."
According to the Health Promotion Agency, New Zealanders lose around $2 billion on gambling each year - or $5.5 million every day.
About half of this is lost on the pokies. Of the proceeds, 31 per cent goes to the Government as tax and 36 per cent is taken in profits.
The 2003 Gambling Act requires the remaining 33 per cent to be given away in grants, but there's no guarantee the money will go back into the community it came from.
Lotto NZ corporate communications manager Emilia Mazur said Lotto existed to raise money for community benefits.
"In the 2012/13 year, over $200 million was transferred to the NZ Lottery Grants Board for redistribution to community groups and projects across New Zealand," she said.
