'Mattress Mack' puts more money on the Astros
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TETERBORO, N.J. — Jim McIngvale — aka “Mattress Mack,” the famed Houston furniture store owner who’s bet more than $10 million on the Houston Astros to win the World Series — flew to New Jersey on Friday morning to place another $1.05 million in bets on his hometown team.
Mattress Mack landed at Teterboro Airport, walked out of his private plane and into a lobby where officials for Unibet and William Hill were waiting for him.
When McIngvale landed, more than $1 million had been wired to the sportsbooks. Unibet went first, as McIngvale bet $100,000 at +210 odds on the Astros to win the World Series. The bet would net $210,000 if they were to come back from being down 2-0. He also bet $150,000 at -152 odds on the Astros to win Game 3 on Friday night, which would net $99,000.
Next up was William Hill. When McIngvale opened the app, his account read $800,005. On two bets he drained it down to $5.
He bet $300,000 at +210 on the Astros to win the World Series (would net $630,000) and $500,000 at -140 on Game 3 (to net $357,142).
Here are the wagers Mack placed Friday:
Astros to win the World Series
$300,000 to win $630,000 (+210 odds, William Hill)
$100,000 to win $210,000 (+210 odds, Unibet)
Total: $400,000 to win $840,000
Astros to win Game 3
$500,000 to win $357,142.86 (-140 odds, William Hill)
$150,000 to win $99,000 (-152 odds, Unibet)
Total: $650,000 to win $456,142.86
And here are McIngvale’s bets that we’ve been able to confirm on the Astros to win the World Series over the past three weeks.
McIngvale is making these bets as a partial hedge on promotions he’s running at his Houston-based furniture stores, which will refund $20 million in purchases if the Astros win the title.
From the sportsbooks’ perspective, what goes into giving McIngvale more access to betting?
“It’s a long-term relationship,” said Jonathan Aiwazian, vice president of sportsbook for Unibet. “We hope he’s back tomorrow.”
“We’ve had a lot of cases with big bets,” said William Hill’s Nick Bogdanovich. “We’ve now done a lot of business with him.”
As for McIngvale, after an hour and a half of placing his bets and making sure they were processed correctly — large-money wagers make the process more complicated — he left for Washington D.C. to watch Game 3 in person.
“We’re feeling good,” he said.
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