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New Mexico has a rocky gambling history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn't be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an accord with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90's. That is probably hopeful thinking.