The Houston Astros have made "Mattress Mack" the biggest winner in sports gambling history.
Houston mattress and furniture magnate Jim McIngvale won $75 million when the Astros won the World Series on Saturday night, beating the Philadelphia Phillies in six games
The money doesn't exactly go into McIngvale's pockets, it goes to his customers. As he has done in previous seasons, he used betting markets to insure his "If the Astros win, you win" promotion.
Now that the Astros have won it all, anyone who spent $3,000 or more can come back and get a refund for their purchases while keeping the items they bought.
McIngvale, who threw out the first pitch before Saturday's game, bet a total of $10 million.
Early in the season, he bet $3 million on the Astros to win the World Series at Caesars at 10/1 and also plunked down $1 million at WynnBet.
In July, he wagered $2 million at BetMGM at 5/1, $2 million at Barstool at 5.3/1 (+533) and $1 million each at Unibet and Betfred, also at 5/1.
Caesars takes the biggest hit from Mack's win, paying out $30 million.
“What can we say? We just wrote the biggest check in sports betting history to Mattress Mack for $30,000,000. Would we do it all again? You bet," Ken Fuchs, the COO of Caesars Digital, said. "While Mack may have won this round on the field, we’re proud of how we teamed up to support first responders and military veterans in Houston, Philly and Atlantic City. And to Mack — we tip our Astros cap — and remind him that he can now support his Texans and Rockets … both attractively priced at +100000 to win a championship. The Astros are also currently +550 to win next year’s Fall Classic.”
Earlier this week, on its earnings call, Caesars CEO Tom Reeg alluded to the importance of Mack's bet, saying it would have a material impact on the next quarter's bottom line.
"I think most of you are aware we've got a fairly high-profile liability out there with the Astros, so that will be a swing factor in whether the fourth quarter is positive as a whole," Reeg said.
