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New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress 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 case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.