‘Mattress Mack’ now has $3.5M in bets on Houston Cougars
Mattress Mack is back with another $1 million bet on Houston to win the NCAA men’s basketball title.
Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale made a $1 million wager, in cash, to win $8 million on the Cougars to win the national championship Monday at Caesars Sportsbook at Horseshoe Lake Charles in Louisiana.
McIngvale, 71, wagered a total of $2.55 million to win $22,925,000 in November at DraftKings and FanDuel in Louisiana and at BetMGM at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In all, he now has $3.55 million riding to win $30,925,000 on Houston, which is the 8-1 favorite at Caesars to win it all.
The Cougars (9-1) suffered their first loss of the season Saturday at home in a 71-65 setback to Alabama.
“They had a disappointing game Saturday, but they’ve got a great coach (Kelvin Sampson) and are very disciplined,” McIngvale said. “He knows how to get those kids ready to play in March and that’s what matters.”
McIngvale won a record $72.6 million in wagers on the Astros to win the World Series. He has made a series of multimillion-dollar bets to reduce risk on furniture promotions, including the recent one that guaranteed customers up to 200 percent of their money back on purchases of at least $3,000 if the Astros won the World Series.
He’s running another promotion offering customers double their money back on the Astros to win the 2023 World Series. But he plans to offer a money back promotion early next year on Houston to win the NCAA title.
“I’m trying to get ahead of it,” he said.
He placed the $1 million wager in cash but said he didn’t use a wheelbarrow to bring it in.
“I wired the money over there,” he said. “That was a prop. I’m not walking around with that kind of money.
“I’ll use a wheelbarrow after Houston wins it.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
