Ohio gambling regulators on Monday instructed the state's licensed sportsbooks to halt betting on college baseball games involving Alabama after suspicious wagering activity was detected on the Crimson Tide's game against top-ranked LSU on Friday.
The directive, issued by Ohio Casino Control Commission executive director Matthew T. Schuler and obtained by ESPN, prohibits "the acceptance of any wagers on University of Alabama baseball effective immediately."
Schuler wrote that the emergency order was in response to a report from an independent integrity monitor. On Friday, U.S. Integrity, a Las Vegas-based firm that monitors the betting markets, issued an alert to its sportsbook clients regarding "suspicious wagering activity" involving the Alabama-LSU game.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board told NOLA.com that two specific bets -- both made in Cincinnati, Ohio -- triggered the suspicious activity alert. "One was on a parlay which involved the LSU-Alabama game, and then there was another straight-up (money line) bet," said Ronnie Johns, chairman of the board. "I was told it was a large bet that involved LSU-Alabama."
Because there is no national gaming regulator, a halt on wagering typically happens on a state-by-state basis.
But Sportsbook FanDuel has removed Alabama baseball games from its betting menu in all jurisdictions as a precautionary measure.
Jessica Franks, director of communications for the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), said the suspicious wagering activity took place at the BetMGM sportsbook that's located at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Franks declined to provide additional details about the suspicious wagering but said that the specificity of information the OCCC received from one of its certified, independent integrity monitors was "enough to prohibit all wagers on Alabama baseball."
On Tuesday, an MGM spokesperson told ESPN in a statement, "We work closely with our suspicious activity monitoring provider, US Integrity, regulatory bodies, and law enforcement when necessary. We're actively working with the OCCC on this incident and won't be providing additional commentary at this time."
LSU led Alabama 8-1 after seven innings and held off a late rally by the Crimson Tide for an 8-6 victory on Friday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Tigers were around -245 favorites over the Crimson Tide in the game in question.
Alabama plays Vanderbilt on Thursday.