(CNS Business): Jamaican betting company Supreme Ventures says its total revenue for the first six months in 2012 was JM$15.4 billion (US$173 million), $13.7 billion of which was for lottery games. Bumped up by the Olympic Games in London, its net profit after tax for the period was JM$506.2 million (US$5.7 million) for the half year. According to a report in the Jamaica Observer, CEO Brian George says the company hopes to do even better next year. Sports betting brought in sales of JM$102m (US$1.15m) for the half year ($204m annualised), up from JM$43 million for the period in 2011. "We want to see sports betting three to four times its current size within a year," George told the Observer.

George said that it is knowledge of games that separate sports betting from lotteries, which are based on chance. "People like to feel in control and they want to use their knowledge of a particular sport to gain," said George, who plans to place Supreme in a position to have Jamaicans bet on the 2014 World Cup Football and hopes to offer odds on events like Miss Universe in the future.

George believes mobile betting is an inevitable next step. "It is impossible to have something as ubiquitous as a smartphone and not give people access to mobile betting," he told the Observer.

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