On April 28 of this year, Bert Neff of Mooresville, Ind., allegedly walked into the sportsbook of Ohio’s Great American Ballpark, home to the Cincinnati Reds, and attempted to persuade staff to take his cash bet, SI reports.
Staff were immediately suspicious because the market on that day’s LSU-Alabama game had received very little traffic and the proposed bet was far in excess of the sportsbook’s limit on NCAA games.
Neff allegedly then hinted he had inside information on the game as if he hoped this would convince staff to take the bet.
Neff’s actions led directly to the firing of Alabama’s head baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who is alleged to have provided the information in question – that Alabama’s star pitcher, Luke Holman, had been ruled out of the game at the last minute because of back tightness.
Hagan Banks, a player who hadn’t started a game since mid-March, took the mound in Holman’s place. Alabama lost, 8-6.
The link between Neff and Bohannon was easily established because Neff was texting the now-former Alabama coach via the messaging app Signal while he was standing at the betting window talking to sportsbook staff.
And he was doing this so conspicuously that investigators were subsequently able to use security video to zoom in on his phone and read the massages, according to SI.
Sportsbook staff passed on their suspicions about Neff to Las Vegas-based sports integrity firm US Integrity. The company notified the Ohio Gaming Commission, which began an investigation.
Staff were immediately suspicious because the market on that day’s LSU-Alabama game had received very little traffic and the proposed bet was far in excess of the sportsbook’s limit on NCAA games.
Neff allegedly then hinted he had inside information on the game as if he hoped this would convince staff to take the bet.
Neff’s actions led directly to the firing of Alabama’s head baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who is alleged to have provided the information in question – that Alabama’s star pitcher, Luke Holman, had been ruled out of the game at the last minute because of back tightness.
Hagan Banks, a player who hadn’t started a game since mid-March, took the mound in Holman’s place. Alabama lost, 8-6.
The link between Neff and Bohannon was easily established because Neff was texting the now-former Alabama coach via the messaging app Signal while he was standing at the betting window talking to sportsbook staff.
And he was doing this so conspicuously that investigators were subsequently able to use security video to zoom in on his phone and read the massages, according to SI.
Sportsbook staff passed on their suspicions about Neff to Las Vegas-based sports integrity firm US Integrity. The company notified the Ohio Gaming Commission, which began an investigation.