Houston furniture store owner Jim McIngvale, otherwise known as "Mattress Mack," placed a $3.5 million bet on the Houston Astros to win the World Series on Tuesday. The wager took place at the DraftKings Sportsbook at the Scarlet Pearl Casino in Biloxi, Miss
McIngvale wired the money to the sportsbook yesterday before placing the wager that would net him $7.7 million if Houston wins its second title three years. (He's getting +220 odds on the bet.)
UPDATE: On Wednesday evening, we got word from FanDuel Sportsbook that "Mattress Mack" would be placing an additional $1.5 million bet on the Astros to win the World Series at +220 odds. According to the sportsbook, he'll place the wager online on Thursday. Assuming McIngvale puts in the wager, this will mean he has $5 million total on the Astros to win $11 million.
McIngvale, not unfamiliar with the world of publicity stunts, placed the bet on the same day his Gallery Furniture stores ended their "Win It All" promotion, in which customers would get refunds on purchases of $3,000 or more if the Astros go on to win the World Series.
McIngvale has said he needs to hedge his promotion, which he says currently would lead to a $15 million loss for his business — and the bet is part of that hedge. According to the Houston Chronicle, Mattress Mack has also purchased insurance, but it's not enough to cover his potential losses.
The Astros are currently favorites to win the World Series.
In 2017, when the Astros won it all, McIngvale gave back more than $10 million in money from purchases. He took out prize and placed bets of more than $1 million in Vegas to cover the cost.
Prior to that, McIngvale said he rolled the dice on his promotions. In 2014, he bet customers that the Astros wouldn't win more than 63 games that year. They won 70. He lost more than $4 million. Earlier that year, he lost $8 million on customer givebacks when he was on the wrong side of the Super Bowl, picking the Broncos, not the Seahawks, to win it all.
