Casino

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. 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 Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.