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New Mexico has a bitter gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the 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 Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990's. That is most likely hopeful thinking.