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New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked 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 working group in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.