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New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.