Bingo Tricks

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New Mexico has a stormy gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues 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 accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.