Mattress Mack on verge of $75 million sports betting win if Astros win title
The Houston Astros are favored to win the World Series, which means Mattress Mack is on the verge of a betting win that would exceed the entire payroll of 10 MLB teams this season.
Jim McIngvale, known as "Mattress Mack," has become a famous figure in the sports betting world. The owner of the Gallery Furniture chain in Houston has made massive sports bets on big events. He has made some huge bets on the Astros, and lucky for him, the Astros have been really good the past few years.
McIngvale placed several seven-figure bets on the Astros to win this year's World Series, with odds from 10-to-1 to 5-to-1 according to the Houston Chronicle. If the Astros win the World Series, Mattress Mack is going to win $75 million.
Action Network said it would be the largest recorded sports betting win in legal sports betting history. The Astros won the American League Championship Series over the New York Yankees on Sunday, advancing to the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Astros are -185 favorites over the Phillies at BetMGM, meaning a bettor would need to wager $185 to win $100.
It's a fortune. Consider that the top three base salaries in the NFL this season (Ryan Tannehill, Lamar Jackson, Carson Wentz ... yes, it's a weird list) combine for $74.016 million. The combined payrolls of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles this season was $69.1 million. To win $75 million on one sporting event is astounding.
However, for those who know Mattress Mack, they know it's not all profit. There's a lot of promotion involved in his big bets. According to the Houston Chronicle, he is offering a deal at his furniture store in which customers who spend $3,000 on some sleep sets or power motion furniture will get their money back if the Astros win the World Series. Before the Astros won the ALCS, he was offering customers double their money back if the Astros won it all according to the Chronicle.
So McIngvale isn't pocketing that entire win. But presumably he'll do pretty well if the Astros win. He's four Astros wins away from an unfathomable sports betting win, and based on his history, he'd try to break that record at some point down the line.