Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale put Doug Polk’s $1.2 million win over Daniel Negreanu to shame on Sunday. The Houston businessman who famously places massive wagers on big sporting events, collected $3.46 million for his bet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat the 3.5-point spread in the Super Bowl.
McIngvale is the founder and owner of Gallery Furniture, a Houston-based furniture retail chain. The 69-year-old owner still works in the store he originally built, greeting customers daily.
McIngvale loves to work as much as he loves sports and gambling. The businessman is famous for placing huge wagers on major sporting events. In 2017, he made one of the craziest wagers ever, except it wasn’t at a sportsbook.
Nicknamed “Mattress Mack,” McIngvale is an avid Houston Astros fan. In June 2017, he offered up a promotion to his customers: if the Astros were to win the World Series that year, he would refund every customer who spent $3,000 on mattresses in his store.
To make a long story short, the Astros went on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in a thrilling, seven-game World Series. McIngvale had to pay back $10 million to customers, and was quite thrilled to do so, as he was ecstatic that his beloved Astros finally won the World Series. He took out an insurance policy and hedged his bet by wagering $13 million on Houston to win. In total, he profited around $1 million and got some free publicity for his business.
‘Mattress Mack’ Wins Again
The furniture store owner did it again on Sunday. He bet on the Buccaneers against the spread (+3.5) versus the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you already know the outcome of the game. Tampa Bay, behind a stingy defense and Tom Brady’s unsurprisingly efficient passing performance, pummeled the Chiefs 31-9.
McIngvale, who placed the bet on the DraftKings app on Thursday, flew to Colorado to place the wager. Sports betting isn’t legal in Texas, where he resides.
He ran a similar promotion to the one he did in 2017. After placing the wager, he informed customers who purchased a $3,000 mattress they would be refunded the money if Tampa Bay won. Clayton Anderson, an astronaut from Houston, had recently purchased a $3,800 mattress from Gallery Furniture and was quite ecstatic that the Bucs won the Super Bowl.
Thanks @MattressMack and @GFToday! Oh…, and thanks @TomBrady and @Buccaneers ! #FreeMattress
— Clayton C. Anderson – The Ordinary Spaceman™ (@Astro_Clay) February 8, 2021
The high-stakes gambler placed the largest wager on this year’s Super Bowl, and one of the biggest ever.
