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New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

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

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990's. That's probably hopeful thinking.