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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King 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 Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.