New Taipei City police have broken up dozens of illegal betting operations tied to the coming election, a win for election integrity but a sign of how much money is riding on the vote.

• Police caught 81 gambling cases involving 210 people and seized about NT$1.78 million in betting money.
• Bookies were taking bets on how many votes local district chiefs would win, even in races with only one candidate.
• The haul included 47 online betting and election-gambling cases, 27 physical gambling dens, and 7 lottery-style operations.
• A 30-year-old man running an online casino out of a home in Shulin was arrested with two gambling computers and NT$778,000 in cash.
• The Justice Ministry has raised the reward for reporting election betting rings to as much as NT$5 million, with informants kept anonymous.

Outlook: Police say they will keep tracing the money upward to the people behind the betting sites, with a zero-tolerance push as the election enters its final stretch.