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New Mexico has a stormy 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 craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state 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 process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.