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New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore costing the state 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 process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.