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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn't be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 90's. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.