Bingo Tricks

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New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees 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 Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably wishful thinking.