| 1 | 1 | | 89R11221 BEE-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Shaheen H.B. No. 4132 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to the definition of a bet for gambling criminal offenses |
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| 10 | 10 | | purposes. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Section 47.01, Penal Code, is amended by |
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| 13 | 13 | | amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (7-a) to read as |
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| 14 | 14 | | follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) "Bet" means an agreement to win or lose something |
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| 16 | 16 | | of value solely or partially by chance. A bet includes an offer to |
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| 17 | 17 | | win a prize, award, or compensation to participants of a paid |
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| 18 | 18 | | fantasy sports league. A bet does not include: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (A) contracts of indemnity or guaranty, or life, |
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| 20 | 20 | | health, property, or accident insurance; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (B) an offer of a prize, award, or compensation |
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| 22 | 22 | | to the actual contestants in a bona fide contest for the |
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| 23 | 23 | | determination of skill, speed, strength, or endurance or to the |
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| 24 | 24 | | owners of animals, vehicles, watercraft, or aircraft entered in a |
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| 25 | 25 | | contest; or |
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| 26 | 26 | | (C) an offer of merchandise, with a value not |
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| 27 | 27 | | greater than $25, made by the proprietor of a bona fide carnival |
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| 28 | 28 | | contest conducted at a carnival sponsored by a nonprofit religious, |
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| 29 | 29 | | fraternal, school, law enforcement, youth, agricultural, or civic |
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| 30 | 30 | | group, including any nonprofit agricultural or civic group |
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| 31 | 31 | | incorporated by the state before 1955, if the person to receive the |
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| 32 | 32 | | merchandise from the proprietor is the person who performs the |
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| 33 | 33 | | carnival contest. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (7-a) "Paid fantasy sports league" means a contest in |
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| 35 | 35 | | which: |
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| 36 | 36 | | (A) the value of any prize, award, or |
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| 37 | 37 | | compensation is established in advance of the beginning of the |
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| 38 | 38 | | contest or of a sporting event on which the contest is based; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (B) participants: |
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| 40 | 40 | | (i) pay a fee to participate in the contest; |
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| 41 | 41 | | and |
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| 42 | 42 | | (ii) assemble a fictional sports team |
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| 43 | 43 | | composed of actual professional or amateur athletes to compete |
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| 44 | 44 | | against fictional sports teams assembled by other participants for |
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| 45 | 45 | | the chance to win a prize, award, or compensation; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (C) any part of the contest's outcome is |
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| 47 | 47 | | determined by the actual weekly performances in sporting events of |
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| 48 | 48 | | the individual athletes on a participant's fictional sports team; |
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| 49 | 49 | | and |
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| 50 | 50 | | (D) a portion of the fees collected from |
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| 51 | 51 | | participants is retained by the person who offers the contest and is |
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| 52 | 52 | | not paid to participants as a prize, award, or compensation. |
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| 53 | 53 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 54 | 54 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 55 | 55 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 56 | 56 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 57 | 57 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 58 | 58 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 59 | 59 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 60 | 60 | | before that date. |
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| 61 | 61 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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