‘Mattress Mack’ Loses Out on $50 Million in Sports Betting Wins Due to Houston Astros ALCS Loss
Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, one of the biggest sports bettors in the world, suffered a multi-million dollar defeat when his beloved Houston Astros fell in Game 7 of baseball’s American League Championship Series, one game short of making the World Series.
Last year, the Texas mattress store billionaire owner cashed a sports betting record $75 million score when his favorite baseball team defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. He placed seven-figure wagers at various sportsbooks, one a $3 million futures bet on the Astros to win the Series at +1000 odds, and it paid $30 million for just that one bet.
But this year was different for the 72-year-old founder of Gallery Furniture, a Houston-based retain chain. On Monday, the Astros fell to the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
The winning team is now on to the World Series to face either Arizona or Philadelphia (Game 7 of the NLCS set for Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT). For McIngvale, the loss was painful to watch from his Minute Maid Park suite, and not only because it’s never fun for anyone to see their favorite team get rocked with a trip to the World Series on the line. Video during the game showed a displeased Mattress Mack watching the Astros get stomped.
Hedging His Bet
Mattress Mack, who staked a group of Houston poker pros at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP), lost approximately $7.9 million on various 2023 Astros World Series bets with $50.9 in potential payouts, according to the New York Post.
Well, sort of. Mack is a brilliant business owner who knows how to hedge his bets and use his massive wagers as a means to promote his furniture stores. With a big bet, he offers up an enticing promotion to his customers – if the Astros win, he refunds their expensive mattress purchases. If they lose, well, he rakes in the dough from the sales, which helps offset the loss from the bet.
Last year, the Astros won the World Series, so he collected $75 million from his bets, but this year went a different way.
It isn’t publicly known exactly how much he wagered on the Astros to win the Series in 2023, although reports suggest it was just under $8 million. According to the Action Network’s Darren Rovell, Mattress Mack placed an extra $1 million on his team last week at +750 odds. At the time, Houston was down two games to none in the ALCS and would go on to win three straight before losing the final two games of the series at home.
To participate in Gallery Furniture's "Win it All Mattress Promotion," customers were required to purchase $3,000 or more in Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, or Stearns & Foster mattresses, box springs, and/or adjustable bases. If the Astros had won, all participants would have received 100% of their purchase back. Bad luck for them, however, because the local team didn't come through.
Mattress Mack, along with Jack Binion and Doyle Brunson just weeks before he passed away, spoke at a ribbon cutting ceremony in March to introduce the newly rebranded and renovated Horseshoe Las Vegas, home to the World Series of Poker.
"I started gambling when I was in high school," McIngvale told PokerNews at the ceremony. "We'd have all night poker games with my friends in high school, so that's how I got involved with poker."
“$76 million pays for a lot of Tempur-Pedic Mattress," the Houston sports betting legend also said.
This year, he collected money from customers instead of the sportsbooks.
