New Mexico has a rocky gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an accord with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.