Bingo Tricks

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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.