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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn't be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 90's. That's most likely hopeful thinking.