Bert Neff received a text from former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohanan alerting him that Alabama had pulled its starting pitcher. Acting on this information, he entered an MGM casino in Ohio on April 28, 2023, and attempted to place a substantial wager of $100,000. Although MGM employees did not accept this bet, they did allow him to place a $15,000 bet on LSU to win, which raised suspicion among the staff. The unusual betting activity was quickly flagged, leading to the suspension of markets for the LSU-Alabama baseball game within days. Shortly after, Bohanan was terminated from his position as head coach.
While Bohanan has not faced criminal charges, the NCAA imposed a 15-year sanction against him. Neff, whose son played baseball at Cincinnati at the time of the bet, also avoided charges related to insider betting. However, he was charged by federal authorities with obstruction of justice after he attempted to delete evidence from his phone concerning Alabama baseball. A federal affidavit revealed that he had shared this inside information with other bettors, resulting in four individuals placing bets on the game, in which LSU won 8-6.
In a sentencing memorandum, US assistant attorney Edward Canter described Neff as a 'professional gambler.' Earlier this year, Neff pleaded guilty, potentially facing up to 10 years in prison. Canter remarked, 'Faced with a federal grand jury investigation, [Neff] worked to game the system. The defendant destroyed evidence, tampered with witnesses and provided false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He did not do this once. He did it on dozens of occasions and he did so for the greater part of a year.' Neff's sentencing took place at the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
At the time Neff placed his bet, LSU was ranked first in the nation and had just completed a three-game sweep of Alabama in an SEC series, eventually going on to win the College World Series. The game in question saw Alabama scratch projected starter Luke Holman about an hour before the scheduled first pitch.
