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New Mexico has a complex gaming 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 get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus denying the state 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 house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.