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New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn't be the situation.

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

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did back in the 1990's. That's most likely wishful thinking.