New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.