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New Mexico has a stormy gambling past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an accord with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990's. That's without doubt wishful thinking.