The legal gambling market in Taiwan is dominated by two lotteries, one of which allows sports betting over the internet. Despite having legislation to allow casinos on offshore islands subject to a local referendum, Penghu has recently rejected their introduction.

Taiwan's first sports lottery will open for business on May 2, with a remit to fund sports and to stimulate regional economies. The lottery will be operated by the Taipei Fubon Bank, which ran the country's public welfare lottery for five years until 2006.

A government casino advisor believes it could be ten years before casino gaming is permitted on the Taiwanese mainland after President Ma earlier this week reiterated his support for exclusively developing resort casinos on Taiwan’s outlying islands in order to boost tourism.

The Director of the Taiwanese Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has said that he expects various types of sports gambling to be introduced in South and Central regions of the country in April of next year.

A month ago Lottomatica identified sports-betting operations as a key driver for success, and this week the company said in its first quarter trading statement that it had seen growth in its Italian fixed-odds product. It also added that GTech’s joint venture in Taiwan was now up and running.

Industry hopes for the introduction of casino gambling in Taiwan have been boosted by the landslide victory of Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou in the country’s presidential election on Saturday. One group of investors has expressed confidence that a much-anticipated casino bill will now be passed in the current legislative session.

The Taiwanese government has opted to expand the state lottery to include sports gambling by April 2008, prompting applications from a number of banks to operate the service.

A highly-anticipated report prepared by the Taiwanese government’s Council for Economic Planning and Development is set to support proposals to introduce integrated casino resorts on outlying islands including Penghu ahead of a final parliamentary vote on gambling reforms now likely to take place in January.

Isle of Man-based casino developer Amazing Holdings has reported that a revised regional development bill that would legalise gaming in Taiwan has successfully completed its first reading in the country’s legislative Yuan.

A recent game-fixing scandal in Taiwan's professional baseball league is unlikely to significantly affect the island's sports lottery, say experts and lottery officials.