One of America’s most well-known sports bettors, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is ready to make his wager on the NCAA Tournament. But with $1 million on the line, he could pay for a lot of future wagers.
According to Front Office Sports, Mattress Mack is wagering $1 million on the Houston Cougars to win it all and cut down the nets. At 6-1 odds, McIngvale stands to make a solid $6 million if Kelvin Sampson’s team gets the job done.
But in case you’re worried that Mattress Mack is risking a ton of his own money on this wager, don’t be. As FOS explained, Mack is passing the expense onto his Gallery customers with a simple scheme.
The promotion that he runs every year is that when a customer buys $4,000 worth of mattresses , they will get it for free if the team he bets on – in this case, the University of Houston – wins the NCAA Tournament. Once he reaches a minimum of 250 mattresses sold, he places the bet at positive odds to cover his losses.
It’s a win-win situation for him. At worst, he’s sold hundreds, if over a thousand mattresses while only losing $1 million. At best, he pockets several million in profit.
Over the past few years we’ve seen this strategy work to his benefit and his detriment. He’s made and lost multi-million dollar bets on the Kentucky Derby and NCAA Tournaments in years past. But he also pocked a cool $72.6 million betting on the Houston Astros to win the 2022 World Series.
All things in balance, we suppose.