Casino Tips

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.