HALIFAX — The online cash started flowing for Atlantic Canada's government-owned lottery corporation Tuesday as it pioneered a controversial website that sells lottery tickets on the Internet.

By midday over 100 customers had wagered on games operated by the Atlantic Lottery Corp. website, making it the first publicly owned agency selling the virtual lottery tickets in Canada. "We officially launched PlaySphere ... to offer a service for a group of people who are comfortable online," said Darlene Doucet, an Atlantic Lottery spokeswoman.

She said the corporation is particularly interested in people who already bank, make purchases and seek entertainment on the web.

Despite the initial surge of buyers, Doucet said the corporation isn't expecting a "huge impact" on ticket sales.

The corporation's forecasts say that within three to five years the website will be earning about $5.9 million from online purchases by residents of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

However, gambling critics said the site is another sign Atlantic governments are seeking more betting revenues, despite evidence gambling leads to addictions and family problems.

Sol Boxenbaum, a Montreal-based gambling critic and consumer advocate, said the sites appear harmless at first, but their anonymity promotes excessive betting.

"It becomes something one can do from the privacy of the home," he said in an interview.

"A lot of people who are spending $100 a week on lotteries are embarassed to do that in a lineup at the shopping mall, but aren't afraid to do that from home."

It won't be long before other lottery corporations across Canada follow the Atlantic region's lead, he said, noting that Loto-Quebec will likely be the next to launch a site.

Most European countries, Australia and the United Kingdom, already allow online lottery ticket sales.

In Canada, Criminal Code prevents provincial lottery corporations from selling outside their boundaries.

However, the Atlantic Lottery Corp. says it has set up a system of checks and balances to ensure the law isn't broken.

Gamblers must first register online, providing proof they are at least 19 years old, or 18 in P.E.I., and a resident of Atlantic Canada.

A credit information company will verify that players are who they say they are.

Then, within minutes, players will be able to buy tickets for any of the games: Lotto 6/49, Atlantic 49, Lotto Super 7, TAG, Atlantic Payday, Pro-Line and Over/Under.

Players can transfer funds directly from their online bank accounts into their website accounts, but not from credit cards.

Boxenbaum said the security systems likely won't be sufficient to keep young gamblers from using the site and developing betting habits.

"Young people even using the Internet can buy false identification. Kids are very good at creating the ID required for adult activities," he said.

There won't be widespread advertising of the online site, said Doucet.

Instead, she said the corporation will begin marketing the ticket-buying site through e-mails to customers that already use another Atlantic Lottery website that encourages users to play light-hearted games and enter contests.

The lottery corporation said in April that a database of 24,000 people who are members of its eClub Rewards website would be a target market for online tickets.

Atlantic Lottery says 75 per cent of all Atlantic Canadian adults play lotteries at least once a year.