Bingo Tricks

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed 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 Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.