The NCAA Tournament just got an order of Big Mack.
Jim McIngvale, the Houston mattress titan who owns Gallery Furniture stores in the city, has made another big bet.
“Mattress Mack,” known for his mega sized bets that have ranged from the World Series to the Super Bowl, flew from Houston to Denver on Friday night, placed a $1 million bet on the Houston Cougars on his DraftKings mobile app to win the NCAA Tournament, and got back on his plane and flew back.
The bet would pay $9 million if Houston cuts down the nets.
“DraftKings had the best number at 9-1 and they were willing to take the full amount,” Mack told The Action Network.
Mack said he’s doing it as a preemptive play should the Cougars make the Final Four.
“We’ll do some sort of promotion,” Mack said. “Maybe if they win the first game, you get 50% off your purchases and if they win the second, the title game, you get 100% off.”
No. 2 seed Houston (26-3) beat Cleveland State and Rutgers to get to the Sweet 16 and plays Syracuse on Saturday. If the Cougars win, they’ll play the winner of Oregon State-Loyola for a bid to the Final Four.
“They have as good as chance as any to make it there,” Mack said.
Mack made $2.67 million on the Tampa Bay Bucs winning the Super Bowl, the end of a long betting drought for him, and used it to pay off a Bucs win furniture promotion.
In 2019, he famously lost $13 million on Astros championship futures to hedge against another promotion if the Astros won it all.
