October 2, 2019
Jim McIngvale (“Mattress Mack”) owns a furniture store in Houston. According to its website, Gallery Furniture is the largest furniture store in the entire State of Texas.
And he’s quite the salesman, too. For much of the baseball season, McIngvale has been offering to refund mattress-related purchases of $3,000 or more if the hometown Houston Astros win the World Series.
The play-offs have begun, and the Astros are the favorites to win it all.
What’s a poor mattress dealer to do?
McIngvale has done the wise thing. He recently placed a $3.5 million dollar bet on the Astros at the Scarlet Pearl casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. To put that figure in context, that is roughly equivalent to the total amount of money bet on baseball at all Mississippi sports books for the months of June, July and August, combined. It is the largest single bet ever made in the State of Mississippi.
And he’s not done yet. He placed a $200,000 World Series bet on the Astros at the South Point casino in Las Vegas and has additional wagers for undisclosed amounts with four other Nevada bookies. And he’s not done yet.
His total liability should the Astros win it all? $15 million.
That’s a Texas-sized chunk of change.