S. 4115 — BETS OFF Act

This section defines two terms for purposes of the Act. It defines "specified event" as (A) an act of terrorism, (B) an assassination, (C) a war, or (D) any non-financial, commercial, or economic event that is government-controlled, under the complete control of any person, or known in advance by any person; and defines "wager" as staking something of value on a future event's outcome (or any portion thereof) but excludes insurance for which the insured holds a lawful insurable interest under State law (per the McCarran-Ferguson Act), foreign law (for risks outside the United States or reinsurance thereof), or Federal law (including the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, National Flood Insurance Program, and Federal Crop Insurance Program).

This section makes it unlawful for any person to place, accept, or facilitate the placement or acceptance of a wager regarding a specified event and authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action for injunctive relief in federal district court against violators.

This section amends federal racketeering, gambling, and commodities laws to incorporate prohibitions under section 3(a) of the BETS OFF Act. Specifically, it (1) adds such prohibited conduct to the gambling prohibition in the interstate travel racketeering statute (18 U.S.C. 1952(b)(i)(1)); (2) includes it in the definitions of illegal gambling and violations under the illegal gambling business statute (18 U.S.C. 1955(b)(1)(i), (b)(4)); (3) adds it to the definition of unlawful internet gambling (31 U.S.C. 5362(1)(E)); and (4) prohibits registered entities under the Commodity Exchange Act from listing or making available for clearing or trading any agreement, contract, transaction, or swap involving a specified event (as defined in section 2 of the BETS OFF Act), while striking certain existing subclauses on event contract prohibitions (7 U.S.C. 7a-2(c)(5)(C)(i)(II)–(IV)).

This section provides a severability clause, stating that if any provision of the Act or its amendments, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its amendments, and their application to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.