Bingo Tricks

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New Mexico has a bitter gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.