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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.