Image Credit: Jim McIngvale/Twitter
It may have happened across the pond but I’m sure you will want to hear about this one.
High stakes sports bettor Jim McIngvale, perhaps better known as Mattress Mack thanks to his profession as a retailer, made several bets on the World Series Baseball Final, and took £65 million ($75 million) from the bookies when the Houston Astros won the trophy.
Before taxes of course, because you get taxed on your winnings over in the land of the free….
The man is worth a lot of money so the win isn’t going to change his life one tiny bit, but he is a record breaker nonetheless.
Things don’t always go his way though; just 5 months ago in May, he lost £1 million betting on the Kentucky Derby, and dropped a sickening £7 million in February when incorrectly backing the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl.
But as you will shortly read, he has an ingenious way of hedging his bets.
The Bets
Before we get get stuck in, here is Jim celebrating his massive win – doesn’t it make you smile.
I’ll let him off the many high five fails, he can slap the air all he likes, he’s just won £65 million quid.
YORDAN ALVAREZ WITH A THREE-RUN HOME RUN TO THE MOON AND MATTRESS MACK HAS LOST CONTROL
(w/ @gallerysports) pic.twitter.com/uyitCDZwzt
— br_betting (@br_betting) November 6, 2022
Usually with these big win stories, there is some sort of acca or multiple involved to achieve such high returns, but when your opening bet is for $3 million those crazy odds aren’t necessary.
All Mattress Mack seemingly did was back his team at various stages through the season as the odds fluctuated.
This is how he spread them out:
- Caesars – $3 million at 10/1
- WynnBet – $1 million at 12/1
- BetMGM – $2 million at 5/1
- Barstool – $2 million at 5.3/1
- Betfred – $1 million unknown odds
- Unibet – $1 million unknown odds
So the damage was done across six different bookies, but Caesars got the worst of it with a $30 million payout due, and obviously they tried to offer alternative bets and promotions to win some of it back – which was politely declined.
I’m going to spoil you with tweets today, here is Jim with a big suitcase full of cash:
It sounds like a ton of money and it is, but after taxes and the amount he will lose paying everyone back for the furniture he has to refund (see below) he will walk away with much less.
You have to take into account his recent losses too, although that said, while he has lost more big bets than he has won, he is thought to be very nicely in the green overall.
Who is Mattress Mack Jim McIngvale?
Aside from being a sports bettor who wager nosebleed stakes, Jim is a very successful businessman from Texas, working in the furniture industry.
His furniture chain, Gallery Furniture, became famous in the state in the 1980s thanks to Jim’s fast paced delivery style and salesy catch phrases, like “Gallery saves you MONEY”.
His business was actually failing and his invested his last $10,000 into a few TV commercials which completely turned things around for him, and transformed him into something of a local celeb.
Think Barry Scott levels of fame, but with loads more MONEY.
He has a net worth of around $300 million, and regularly places multi million dollar bets on sports like horse racing and baseball.
In a stroke of genius though, he often ties in offers at Gallery Furniture with his sports bets, so that even if his bet loses, he kind of wins anyway through increased sales.
An offer that went hand in hand with his recent bet was that he would refund certain purchases if his bets won, which is understandably attractive to anyone in the market for a mattress or a dining room table or something like that – they might get it free.
I’m sure Jim’s accountants are clever enough to play with the tax rules in America to make the promotion doubly advantageous to him as well.
He’s much more than a shrewd businessman and ballsy gambler though, he does a lot for charity and is also vocal with his political views.
He has often stepped in to help after hurricanes and floods, opening his giant store for those who had been made homeless and providing meals and clothing etc.
An interesting guy to be sure.