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New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, 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 case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

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

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.