New Mexico Bingo


[ English ]

New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.

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