Gambling in Taiwan

Putting the words “gambling” and “Asian” or “Chinese” together immediately conjures up a scene of a small, dimly lit room with a dingy table surrounded by men huching over blocks with strange characters on them.  There is money on the table and in their hands, and they are shouting at each other in unrecognizable words, gesturing and excited.  A heavy haze of smoke permeates the room, and the door is closed, with an oily, gangster type standing beside it.  This room is located in the back of a Chinese restaurant, somewhere in Chinatown in any major western city.  And these men are fathers and controllers of powerful factions within the Asian community.