Casino Tricks Insider Casino Tricks

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gambling past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990's. That's without doubt hopeful thinking.