• Home

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

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

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s without doubt wishful thinking.

Log in