A Texas furniture owner has stunned the betting world. This week he placed one of the largest sports wagers ever accepted by a US sportsbook operator.
The operator was DraftKings at the Scarlet Pearl Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
The bet was for $3.5 million and it was for the Houston Astros to win the upcoming World Series at odds of +220. DraftKings will have to pay out $7.7 million if the Astros win.
Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale, the owner of Gallery Furniture in Houston, is the man who placed the enormous bet. And here’s the reason why.
All season McIngvale has been running a baseball promotion at his store. He’s been offering to refund all mattress purchases of $3,000 or more if the Astros win the World Series.
Mattress Mac ran same promotion in 2017
He ran the same promotion in 2017 when Houston beat the LA Dodgers to win their first-ever World Series. Fortunately McIngvale had placed more than $1 million in covering bets on the Astros winning. And win they did.
The move greatly reduced the cost of his promotion to an amount he could comfortably afford.
This year he estimates he’ll have to place wagers of around $10m to cover the cost of his latest promotion.
He wired the $3.5m to DraftKings on Monday flew to Biloxi to collect the betting slip and on Tuesday declared it was safely in his wallet.
McIngvale’s $3.5 million wager is reported to equal the total handle expended on baseball at all Mississippi sportsbooks during June, July and August
Biggest-ever wager in Mississippi
“I think it’s the biggest (wager) that’s ever happened in Mississippi,” DraftKings’ co-founder Matt Kalish told ESPN.com.
He can’t be far off the mark. Certainly its one of the largest baseball wagers ever recorded anywhere. And it’s not his first and most likely won’t be his last on this occasion.
It has been reported that he recently placed a $200,000 World Series bet on Houston with odds of +250 at South Point in Las Vegas. There has also been talk that he has laid bets for “undisclosed” amounts with Nevada sportsbooks Caesars, MGM, Treasure Island and Circa Sports.
It is also known that McIngvale has been in touch with numerous sportsbooks in New Jersey.
After discussions with McIngvale recently, FanDuel consulted the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, EPNS.com has reported. They wanted clearance to accept a bet of more than $5 million on the Astros winning, but we are not yet aware of any outcome.
High praise for DraftKings
Meanwhile McIngvale has high praise for DraftKings. “I’m just amazed by how much DraftKings and Scarlet Pearl took – and they didn’t blink an eye,” he said.
“It’s pretty rare in the US for someone to take a three and a half million dollar wager.”
McIngvale recently placed a $200,000 World Series bet at +250 on the Astros at South Point in Las Vegas. He has also laid down additional bets for undisclosed amounts with Nevada bookmakers Caesars, MGM, Treasure Island and Circa Sports.
This year, with more states offering sports betting, he has expanded his options, to include Mississippi and New Jersey.
“It’s a whole different game in 2019,” McIngvale told ESPN last week while shopping around for best prices and highest limits.
Odds on Astros now +210
The odds on Houston winning the World Series dipped to +210 at DraftKings’ after it took McIngvale’s bet. The Dodgers are currently the second favorite at +260.
Before McIngvale’s wager, more World Series money had been wagered on New York Yankees at DraftKings than on any other team. Their current odds on the Yankees are +425.
“This does change the picture for us a little bit,” Kalish said Tuesday. “This will make the Astros our biggest liability.”
Gallery Furniture’s liability from the promotion has meanwhile passed the $15 million mark – and is still growing.
McIngvale, 68, admitted that promotions like his mattress one came with heavy liabilities. “But it’s the greatest publicity I could ever hope for,” he added smiling broadly.