ODDS ARE AGAINST THE ASTROS

‘Mattress Mack’ plans to bet $4M-plus on Astros to win World Series

By Todd Dewey

Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 28, 2019

“Mattress Mack” is back and plans to place more than $4 million in hedge bets on his hometown Houston Astros to win the World Series.

For the second time in three years, Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is using legal sportsbooks to help offset a potential eight-figure loss on a free mattress set promotion.

Any customer who makes a purchase of at least $3,000 at his Gallery Furniture retail chain will get a refund if the Astros win it all. McIngvale refunded $13 million in the same promotion in 2017, when Houston won the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

The stakes are higher this year, as McIngvale said he’s fast approaching a $15 million liability on the promotion, which has proved extremely popular with the Astros as the plus 200 favorites to win the title.

“It’s been going on since the preseason, and there’s been a lot of excitement with the Astros,” McIngvale said. “The (Zack) Greinke trade made a huge difference and the fact that they have the best record in baseball.”

McIngvale, 68, partially hedged his 2017 promotion through wagers on the Astros at Nevada sportsbooks, which sources told the Review-Journal amounted to about $1.8 million.

He wants to bet a lot more than that this year and asked Anthony Curtis, who runs LasVegasAdvisor.com, and professional sports bettor Frank Betti to help him negotiate prices and numbers with the books.

The well-respected Las Vegas sharps told the Review-Journal on Saturday that the FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks in New Jersey have agreed to take a total of $4 million in wagers from McIngvale to win $8.8 million on the Astros at plus 220.

FanDuel is expected to take $3 million and DraftKings $1 million, according to Curtis.

“As of now, this is the agreement,” Curtis said. “Both groups have been very forthright.”

McIngvale is expected to place the bets this week, though he declined to provide details.

“I’m finalizing all that,” he said. “I’ve got to fly up to New Jersey to do it. It’ll be very dynamic. It’s going to happen fast, before the playoffs.”

The wild-card playoff games are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The National League Division Series starts Thursday, and the American League Division Series begins Friday.

Curtis said McIngvale already has placed $350,000 in wagers to win $875,000 at Nevada books at plus 250. Venerable South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro tweeted an image of a $200,000 wager to win $500,000 on the Astros.

“We wanted plus 250 essentially for any amount,” Curtis said. “We had four sportsbooks here that took the bet at plus 250. The big dog was Jimmy Vaccaro working on behalf of Michael Gaughan at South Point.

“Caesars took $100,000, and we also had wagers at MGM (Resorts) and TI (Treasure Island). Those are the four books that stepped up. It was a complete eye-opener to me how unwilling these sportsbooks were in Nevada to step up the way they are in New Jersey.”

Curtis said he and Betti will continue to look for hedge bets for McIngvale during the playoffs.

“These futures bets that he’s going to make are essentially preflop bets,” said Curtis, comparing McIngvale’s position to a poker game.

The sharps said the best bet of all is to buy a $3,000 mattress set.

“You’ve got close to a one in three shot to get it for free,” Curtis said.

McIngvale lost $8 million on his first sports promotion in 2014, when the Seattle Seahawks upset the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.

“I was told by two guys who work here that the Broncos were a dead solid lock,” McIngvale said. “They’re still around. I remind them of it almost every day.”