New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.