New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus 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 contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.