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Archive for August, 2023

Bingo in New Mexico

August 14th, 2023 No comments

New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby costing the government of New Mexico 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 ball rolling on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.

Might the Anti Cigarette Law in Britain Drive Bingo Enthusiasts On to the Internet?

August 3rd, 2023 No comments

Much has been talked in the press not long ago about the bingo industry singing the blues as a consequence of the smoking ban in the UK. Conditions have become so awful that in Scotland the Bingo industry has asked for massive aid to help keep the businesses from going bankrupt. But can the net variation of this classic game present a salvation, or might it never compare to its bricks and mortar equivalent?

Bingo has been an ancient game usually enjoyed by the "blue rinse" generation. However the game lately had witnessed a recent return in popularity with younger members of society opting to visit the bingo parlours instead of the discos on a weekend. All this is about to change with the enacting of the smoking ban all over England and Wales.

Players will no longer be allowed to smoke whilst marking numbers. Starting in the summer of 2007 all public areas will no longer be permitted to allow smoking in their venues and this includes Bingo halls, which are possibly the most common places where folks enjoy smoking.

The results of the cigarette ban can already be seen in Scotland where smoking is already prohibited in the bingo parlours. Numbers have plunged and the business is literally fighting for its life. But where did all the players go? Certainly they have not forgotten this familiar game?

The answer is on the internet. Gamblers realize that they can enjoy bingo in front of their computer while enjoying a cocktail and fag and in the end, have a chance at huge prizes. This is a recent phenomenon and has timed itself bordering on perfect with the anti cigarette law.

Of course gambling on online is unlikely to replace the collective part of heading down to the bingo hall, but for a demographic of players the governing edicts have left a lot of bingo players with little alternative.