Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale lost $9.5 million betting on the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl.
Mcingvale drove across the border to Louisiana early Friday morning, stopped at a gas station and placed a $5 million bet on Caesars Sportsbook app at +170 odds. The previous week McIngvale had placed a $4.5 million money-line bet in Louisiana with Caesars Sportsbook for a total of $9.5 million on the Bengals for the Super Bowl. Caesars Sportsbook said the $5 million dollar wager was the largest single wager the company had ever taken.
“Well, I sold through the profit on the first investment,” McIngvale informed ESPN on Friday, his 71st birthday. “So I had to make another.”
Mcingvale, a local celebrity in his hometown of Houston where he owns Gallery Furniture, has received national attention after a series of big sports bets in conjunction with promotional giveaways at his store.
McIngvale claimed that if the Bengals won, he would refund any customer who bought a $3000 mattress or recliner after attracting plenty of customers during a period the furniture business is typically slow. Turnout at his store for the past two weeks was described as “beyond booming.”
“We’re busier than we’ve ever been, “ McIngvale said. “It was absolutely good for us. It brings in tons of new customers.”
McIngvale ran a similar promotion for last year's Kentucky Derby horse race. He offered customers their mattress for free if favorite Essential Quality had won (the colt didn’t, finishing fourth just over a length behind winner Medina Spirit) after placing one of the biggest single bets in horse racing history, a cool £2million on the Godolphin-owned horse.
Mattress Mack often bets on his hometown Houston Astros to win the World Series, last year he placed (and lost) $3.35 million in bets on the Astros to win the World Series at odds of +1000, which including other sports bets, means he has lost over $21 million since last year. Despite the rough run, McIngvale says he doesn’t plan on stopping the promotions and he always tries to keep things in perspective.
“The biggest thing I’m disappointed with is the fact that my customers didn’t get free furniture,” the businessman said. “I got a lot of faults, like gambling, but I don’t drink and I don’t use drugs. My wife and I are resilient. We’ll just go home and go to sleep on my Tempur-Pedic mattress.”
“I’ll wake up in the morning and go back to work.”