Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale’s dream of winning nearly $20m came crashing down Wednesday.
The Houston Astros, on whom he had placed a bundle of bets totalling $11m, took a tumble.
And what a tumble it was. With the World Series tied-up at 3-all, the Astros needed to win the 7th and final game to claim the title.
Long-time fan Mattress Mac was banking on an Astros victory. The famed furniture store owner needed around $20 to pay for a promotion he had been running.
He had offered to refund everyone who had purchased a mattress for more than $3 000 if the Astros won the series. The bets he had placed would cover all the refunds. And the Astros were playing the big decider on home turf.
Nationals beat Astros 6-2 in game 7
It didn’t help. The Washington Nationals won the game 6-2 to claim the World Series. McIngvale didn’t have to pay any refunds, but he did lose the $11m he’d staked on his favorite baseball team.
An Astros victory would have seen him win the cover he needed to make good his promotions promise. Plus he would have had returned to him all the money he’d staked.
McIngvale was obviously disappointed, but he was anything but gutted. In fact, he said he’d do it again if the Astros have another stand-out season.
“It was a tough loss, but I have no regrets at all” McIngvale told the Press Thursday morning. Kudos to the Nationals, but the sun came up this morning and it’s going to be another good day.
“I love the Astros with all my heart. My heart is broken for them and my customers. I really wanted my promotion to go through. However, you win some, you lose some, and you just have to move on from that.
The Astros fell away after the 7th
“If the Astros have another 100-plus (win) season at the top of the (American League) again, I might do it again” he said. “I’m very proud of this team. It was a great game with an exciting crowd till the seventh, but it fell a little bit short and lost a lot of money.
Darren Rovell, a sports business analyst and betting expert who works for Action Network said McIngvale’s collective bet was one of the biggest ever.
“I’ve been covering the betting business for 20 years and I am pretty sure this is the biggest bet of all time on one team collectively.”
McIngvale managed to wager as much as he did by spreading his wagers around. Nevada has enjoyed the reputation of being the betting capital of the US.
However, he was able to negotiate bigger bets in Mississippi, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. His biggest bet were his $3.5m wager with DraftKings in Mississippi and his $1.5m with FanDuel in New Jersey
