Online Casinos in New Mexico

The Gaming Control Board States New Mexico's Position on Online Gambling

New Mexico is one of a small number of states whose gaming regulator has published a direct statement about internet gambling rather than leaving a reader to infer one. Under the heading Internet Gambling / Wagering, the New Mexico Gaming Control Board writes: “The State of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Gaming Control Board do not regulate, license, control or in ANY way sanction, endorse or approve any Internet or on-line gambling, betting activity, wagering or any aspect thereof.” It continues: “Any statement, reference or opinion to the contrary is wrong. Such activity is strictly prohibited and not authorized, approved or sanctioned in any manner by New Mexico regulatory authorities.”

The Board prefaces that with a characterisation of federal law — “Internet gambling is expressly prohibited by Federal law. This falls under 31 U.S.C.A. §5361, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.” — which is the Board's own wording and is reproduced here as such rather than adopted as a statement of what federal law provides. The state-law position is the part that matters for a reader in New Mexico, and the Board states it without qualification.

The same page sets out the baseline: “Unless specifically permitted by law, gambling is prohibited in New Mexico pursuant to §60-2E-4 of the Gaming Control Act and the New Mexico Criminal Code, 30-19-1 thru 30-19-15 NMSA 1978.” No online casino is licensed in New Mexico, and this site does not point readers at operators that are not licensed where they are.

What New Mexico Does License, and Where

The Board's own summary of casino-style play is short: “Casino style gaming is permitted in this State by Tribal/State Compact with the tribes and pueblos of New Mexico.” and “Slot Machines are permitted by license only in the tribal casinos, licensed racetracks and in certain licensed non-profit organizations.” Each of those is a physical venue. The Board describes a game under the Gaming Control Act as “Game – under the Gaming Control Act is an activity where you pay to play a game or on a slot machine, the outcome of which is based on chance and possibly some skill, to receive a prize or something of value.”

Taking money from players without that licensing is a felony, as the Board explains in a different context on the same page: “A homeowner charging a fee to play or keeping a portion of monies (tokens exchangeable for cash) put into the slot machine for ANY reason, would be commercial gambling, §30-19-3 NMSA, a fourth-degree felony.”

Tribal casinos in New Mexico operate on tribal land under compacts between the tribes and pueblos and the State. A compact is not a state licence to run an online casino, and nothing on this page describes tribal gaming.

Sweepstakes: Two Statements on the Same Page, and No Status Recorded

New Mexico is a case where the regulator has written about both halves of the question and the two halves do not resolve each other, so this page records no sweepstakes status. The Board's Gambling Review defines the term: “Sweepstakes – used to promote legitimate business objectives. Entry obtained with purchase but must also provide a no purchase necessary alternative method of entry.” That is a description of a lawful prize promotion, including the no-purchase entry route such products are built around.

Against that sits the Board's internet statement quoted above, which is written broadly enough to cover “any Internet or on-line gambling, betting activity, wagering or any aspect thereof”. The Board has not published anything applying either passage to a dual-currency casino product, and this research will not decide between them. A null sweepstakes status lists no operators and asserts nothing, which is the honest outcome where a regulator has addressed a mechanism and a medium separately but never the product.

Sweepstakes casinos and real-money casinos are separate products with separate rules, and neither is presented here as a licensed version of the other.