The Father of a Cincinnati Bearcats baseball player has been banned from Indiana casinos and sportsbooks.
Bert Eugene Neff Jr. is the central figure in a college baseball betting scandal last spring. He is in hot water from “suspicious wagering activity” at an Ohio sportsbook.
Neff is a resident of Mooresville, Ind. Therefore, the Indiana Gaming Commission decided to ban him from his home state’s casinos and sportsbooks. However, the action stems from bets placed at the BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Fired Alabama baseball coach linked to Neff’s wager
The Indiana Gaming Commission added Neff to its involuntary exclusion list. As a result, he is barred from entering any Indiana casino or placing bets with a sportsbook. Meanwhile, the Ohio Casino Control Commission hasn’t banned Neff from the Ohio sports betting industry.
In April, Neff went to the BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. He tried to place a large wager on a college baseball game. He wanted to bet on Louisiana State University to defeat the University of Alabama.
LSU was the top-ranked team in the country and beat Alabama 8-6. The moneyline odds for the game were -245. In other words, bettors had to put up $245 to win $100 on LSU.
According to media reports, Neff was betting upwards of $100,000. That caused employees at the sportsbook to become suspicious. Upon looking at video surveillance footage, it was revealed that Neff was communicating with then-Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who was fired shortly after the bets were flagged by U.S. Integrity.
Neff’s attorney, Jeff Baldwin, told ESPN that he and his client dispute the reports that Neff attempted to place a large straight bet on LSU, adding that only one bet involving LSU was a parlay. Neff is a subject of ongoing investigations by gaming regulators in Ohio and Indiana, as well as by the NCAA.
The Indiana Gaming Commission says Neff’s presence in casinos or participating in online sports betting in the state would adversely affect or call into question the integrity of gambling operations. Neff does have the opportunity to appeal Indiana’s decision.
Impact of Neff’s betting
Neff’s betting had a residual impact across the college baseball world. Within days of flagging the LSU-Alabama betting activity, Alabama fired head coach Brad Bohannon for “among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees.”
However, more of Neff’s betting habits came to light, and his connections to others caused them to lose their jobs. In May, two Cincinnati baseball staff members were dismissed following an internal review of potential NCAA infractions regarding the baseball program.
Former assistant coach Kyle Sprague and former director of operations Andy Nagel were reportedly discussing gambling with Neff, whose son Andrew was a pitcher for the Bearcats. Andrew Neff has since entered the transfer portal. Head baseball coach Scott Googins resigned on May 31, two weeks after Sprague and Nagel were fired.
The allegations did not suggest that either Sprague or Nagel were involved in altering the outcomes of games or lineups. ESPN obtained a series of texts from Cincinnati through a records request. The texts include pictures of betting slips on tennis and the NFL, pitching advice and a request for a coaching job. No bets on college baseball were included in the text messages.
According to ESPN sources, Neff was known as a high-volume gambler. He allegedly would risk upwards of $50,000 a day on various sports.
