When it comes to legendary sports gamblers, names like Billy Walters and Haralabos (H-Bob) Voulgaris come to mind. These are two bettors who’ve made fortunes through sports betting alone.
The name Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale, however, doesn’t exactly scream sports gambling. As his nickname implies, McIngvale has gotten rich by selling mattresses and other furniture.
He’s quickly become a betting legend through a series of multimillion-dollar bets that involve both sportsbooks and mattresses.
Below, you can read more about McIngvale, his massive sports wagers, and what to expect from his gambling exploits in the future.
Mattress Mack’s Rise to Fame
The reason why Jim McIngvale can place multimillion-dollar wagers is because he’s worth $300 million. Despite his fortune today, though, Mattress Mack certainly didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. Born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1951, he moved to Dallas at a young age.
He spent his early adult life bouncing from job to job, eventually ending up at a convenience store. McIngvale hit rock bottom after getting fired from this job at the age of 30. This event turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, as he got a furniture store gig and began changing his life around. McIngvale learned the furniture business so well that he decided to start his own venture in 1981.
After his brother found a perfect location in Houston, he moved there and opened the first Gallery Furniture. He experienced early success by gearing his prices and advertising strategies towards Texas blue-collar workers. However, a decline in the oil industry in 1983 hurt his sales greatly.
Down and out, McIngvale took his last $10,000 and invested it into commercials. Yelling the line, “Gallery Furniture saves you money,” he was able to recharge sales and get back on the path to success. Today, he owns multiple Gallery Furniture stores throughout the Houston area.
Mattress Rebate Bet on Super Bowl XLVIII
Jim McIngvale’s first big bet wasn’t at a sportsbook. Rather, he offered an unbelievable mattress promotion in 2014 that hinged on Super Bowl XLVIII.
Mattress Mack had already been gearing up for a huge gamble involving promotions based on the 2014 AFC and NFC Championship Games.
He promised free furniture to the first 100 customers who correctly guessed the outcome of the conference title games. McIngvale gave away $685,000 through this promotion.
Super Bowl XLVIII pitted the Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos. Mattress Mack offered furniture rebates worth up to $6,000 if the Seahawks won.
McIngvale was hoping that Peyton Manning and the Broncos could pull it out and save him lots of money.
However, Seattle stomped Denver to the tune of 43-8, costing the Gallery Furniture owner $7 million in rebates.
From a business standpoint, this was an excellent marketing gimmick. It most assuredly increased sales. It’s not known if Mattress Mack bought insurance on the promotion that covered part of the losses, but this type of insurance is available.
Of course, there’s no reason for Mack to tell anyone if he had insurance because the story is better for his fame as a sports gambler and a business person if he’s on the hook for all of the losses.
Rebates Hedged with Sports Bets in 2017 World Series
Mattress Mack waited three years following the sting of the 2014 Super Bowl loss before betting big again. When his beloved Houston Astros made the 2017 World Series, he couldn’t help but put his faith and money in the Astros.
Throughout most of the season, McIngvale had been offering up to $3,000 furniture rebates if Houston was able to win the Series. He was on the hook for around $10 million in merchandise rebates when the Astros were blazing through the MLB Playoffs.
Houston ended up winning in seven games. This meant that Mattress Mack had to honor $10 million worth of rebates.
As mentioned in the last section, insurance could have been bought on this promotion, but it was a smarter play to use the hedge wagers that Mack used.
Biggest Wagers on the 2019 World Series
When the Astros made the 2019 World Series, McIngvale couldn’t help but put down more big bets on his favorite team.
Houston was underdogs to the Washington Nationals. But this didn’t stop McIngvale from backing them heavily.
- First, he again offered mattress rebates worth up to $3,000 if the Astros won. The promotion was wildly popular and caused him to rack up $20 million in potential rebates.
- He then flew to Biloxi, Mississippi and bet $3.5 million—the largest in state history—at the Scarlett Pearl Casino. He got +220 odds on Houston winning the Series, which would’ve paid $7.7 million.
- Next, McIngvale went to New Jersey and put down a $1.5 million wager—a record at the time for the Garden State. Getting +220 odds here as well, he stood to win $3.3 million on this stake.
Houston would go down to the Nationals in seven games. This left Mattress Mack down to the bookies but also prevented him from having to give out $20m in rebates.
Sports Bets on the 2020 AFC Championship Game
In 2020, Jim McIngvale decided to place big bets without any store rebates involved. He had a good feeling about the Tennessee Titans’ chances of upsetting the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 AFC title game.
He placed two separate $500,000 wagers on the Titans while getting +300 odds.
Derrick Henry and the Titans put up a good fight and did better than expected. However, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs prevailed by a score of 35-24. Kansas City would go on to win the Super Bowl as well.
$3.46 Million Bet on Super Bowl LV
Mattress Mack went to the sportsbooks again in 2021 for Super Bowl LV.
He flew to Colorado Springs and used a mobile betting app to wager $3.46 million on Tampa Bay’s +3.5 point spread. McIngvale stood to earn $2.72 million from this bet if the Bucs lost by three points or less.
Tampa Bay was able to do even better than this, dominating Super Bowl LV by a score of 31-9.
Mattress Mack never really had to worry if his bet would come through.
McIngvale’s $3.46 million wager was the largest on the 2021 Super Bowl by a sizable margin. He scooped a $2.72 million payout to help make up for losses in previous years. After many public losing campaigns, these wagers paid off in a big way for Mack.
Conclusion
Jim McIngvale doesn’t have the gambling skills of the aforementioned Billy Walters or H-Bob.
Mattress Mack has placed a number of multimillion-dollar wagers at sportsbooks within the past few years. He’s also risked extra money through furniture rebates.
Of course, his huge bets are often used to hedge the mattress rebates.
McIngvale seems to be ramping up his betting activities lately. That being said, you should expect to see more big bets from him in the coming years.
