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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.