Casinos in New Mexico
New Mexico offers several forms of regulated gambling, including casino games, bingo, pari-mutuel horse racing and a state-run lottery. The state is home to numerous high-profile land-based casinos, such as the Cities of Gold, Wild Horse, Sky City or Billy the Kid. Nevertheless, the local gambling regulations are rather complicated. Even worse, New Mexico already addressed the issue of gambling online by prohibiting the residents of the state from joining the action at the offshore sites without setting up its own fenced online casino market.
New Mexico Gambling Laws
New Mexico casino gaming is regulated under the Gaming Control Act, but the state has separate laws that cover horse racing, lotteries, bingo and raffles. New Mexico’s Gaming Control Board is well aware of the popularity of online gambling made it very clear that the state does not control, regulate, license or sanction any online betting activity. Since wagering on a game of chance is illegal in New Mexico unless the operator of the game has all the relevant paperwork, it is impossible for New Mexico players to join the action on casino sites without breaking the law in the process.
Online Sites
New Mexico-based gambling businesses aren’t allowed to operate online sites. Even worse, playing at a site that doesn’t have a valid New Mexico license is considered illegal, which means that New Mexico residents aren’t allowed to go for the offshore casino sites. In the end, many casino enthusiasts choose to break the law by registering on sites like Bovada. While the authorities aren’t exactly hell bent on punishing those individuals, there’s simply no denying the fact that online gambling is quite likely to put you in trouble unless you keep a really low profile.
Offshore Casino Sites That Accept New Mexico Players
Despite the fact that New Mexico regulations prohibit playing on offshore casino sites from within the borders of the state, most of the US-facing casino sites still accept New Mexico players and give them access to the same bonuses and games that are available for players from i-gaming friendly states. Most of those sites are powered by Real Time Gaming software, which means that they are 100% reliable and that the games they offer are absolutely top-notch.
Since online gambling isn’t allowed in New Mexico, most offshore site customers have very limited banking options to choose from. Visa and MasterCard credit cards are the most popular deposit method, but keep in mind that it is possible for the transaction to be blocked by your bank. Western Union and MoneyGram money orders on the other hand are 100% reliable, but in most cases the player is required to cover all the additional fees. Withdrawals are usually handled via a wire transfer, but in special cases the casino may agree to allow a cash out via a check by courier.
Developing Legal Scenarios
Gambling has a slim chance of becoming legal in New Mexico due to the fact that many key political figures seem to be interested in the potential revenues that would be generated by new intrastate gambling businesses. Nevertheless, no concrete legislation has been proposed so far, which means that New Mexico-based online casino enthusiasts have no other option but to wait and see what the future will bring.
