Bingo Tricks

Bingo in New Mexico

by Rogelio on May.26, 2020, under Bingo

[ English ]

New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the task force arrived at an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gambling as a key matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.


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