Bingo Tricks

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.