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While one apparent perpetrator made a scene at the sportsbook, security cameras captured damning evidence, according to sources.
Pat Forde discusses the Alabama college baseball betting scandal that rocked the sports and the sports betting world.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement back in May in response to the "suspicious betting" concern tied to an LSU vs. Alabama game.
Sankey's statement:
"We are aware of reports related to the suspension of wagering on Alabama baseball games. We will continue to monitor available information and any regulatory activity.
"As many states have acted to legalize sports gambling, we are reminded of the threats gambling may pose to competitive integrity. Together with our member universities, we will continue to emphasize the importance of regulating, overseeing and providing education related to sports gambling activity."
Inside info of the Crimson Tide's Luke Holman being scratched appeared to have contributed to the suspect wager that forced Ohio regulators to order all state regulated sportsbooks stop taking bets on Alabama baseball games.
That bet was placed in Cincinnati, Ohio.
On April 28, Bert Eugene Neff Jr. walked into the BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati in possession of a large amount of cash. Three people familiar with the investigation told Sports Illustrated that Neff wanted to bet more than $100,000 on a college baseball game that night.
Surveillance cameras at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati indicated that Neff Jr. was in communication with Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, who has since been fired.
Neff's bets drew suspicion in that virtually nobody was wagering on this game and his attempted wagers on the Tigers far exceeded the sportsbook’s established house limit on college baseball.
It was at this point that Neff admitted he had "insider information". And the cameras caught an exchange between Neff and Bohannon as well.
From SI.com:
Neff was texting with Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon via the encrypted messaging app Signal while at the betting window, attempting to place the wager, the sources say. His texting was indiscreet, to the point that the book’s video surveillance cameras were able to zoom in on the details of Neff and Bohannon’s text exchange, making Bohannon’s name visible later in screenshots.
“[Video cameras] can see the [text] conversation back-and-forth,” a source familiar with the incident says. “It couldn’t have been any more reckless.”
Neff’s son, Andrew, is a pitcher on the Cincinnati baseball roster.
Bert Neff was a former college pitcher at Louisville and Indiana in the 1990s and has been involved as a coach and administrator over the years with youth baseball in and around the greater Cincinnati area.
Director Of Communications at Ohio Casino Control Commission said, “This is an active, ongoing investigation. In this particular case, everyone [at the BetMGM book] did their job. Once the staff at the sportsbook reported what they thought may have been suspicious or unusual activity, it was passed along to the commission and to U.S. Integrity.”
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
