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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.