1 Observatoire des Jeux, Ministère des Finances, Télédoc 774, 139 rue de Bercy, 75572, Paris Cedex, France.
2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Lifestyle and Addiction Research Lab, Concordia University, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada. sylvia.kairouz@concordia.ca.
3 Université de Sherbrooke, 150, Place Charles Lemoyne bureau 200, Longueuil, QC, J4K 0A8, Canada.

Lotteries are one of the most prevalent forms of gambling and generate substantial state revenues. They are also argued to be one of the least harmful forms of gambling. This paper is one of the first to examine exclusive lottery gamblers and compares their gambling patterns and problems as well other associated risky behaviours to those who are not exclusive lottery gamblers. Data were derived from two large surveys conducted with representative adult samples in France (n = 15,635) and Québec (n = 23,896). Participants were separated into two groups: exclusive lottery gamblers (ELGs) and non-exclusive lottery gamblers. Using multivariate analysis, study results reveal that ELGs, who represent two thirds of gamblers, generally exhibit less intensive gambling patterns and are less likely to report other risky behaviours. However, harms associated with moderate risk and problem gambling are found to be concentrated in specific subpopulations for both groups, primarily males, older individuals, and those who report lower income and education level. Given widespread participation in lotteries and concentration of harm within specific subgroups, these findings point to the need for prevention efforts despite the lower levels of harm associated with lottery gambling.