Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, the Houston furniture salesman known to place giant hedge bets, has done it again -- this time with the biggest single wager he's ever placed.
On Thursday, McIngvale drove across the Texas border into Louisiana, pulled over at a gas station, logged onto his mobile betting account with Caesars Sportsbook and placed $4.5 million in bets on the underdog Cincinnati Bengals at +170 odds to upset the favored Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI. If the Bengals spring the upset, the bet would net $7.7 million.
"I had to make like twenty $200,000 bets to make it work," McIngvale told ESPN on Thursday night. "But I want to thank Caesars for taking it."
The Return of the Mack for the Super Bowl‼️@MattressMack just wagered $4,534,000 on the #CaesarsSportsbook app in Louisiana on the Bengals (+170) to win over the Rams.
— Caesars Sportsbook (@CaesarsSports) February 4, 2022
Potential win: $7,707,800
This marks the single biggest mobile wager of all-time 👀#BetLikeACaesar pic.twitter.com/pBJjtU9x49
Caesars Sportsbook said it was the second-largest bet the company has ever taken on the Super Bowl, eclipsing a $4.9 million money-line bet at -900 odds on the heavily favored St. Louis Rams to beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots won 20-17.
"The Joe Burrow magic is pulling fans in, especially in Louisiana with his college roots," Ken Fuchs, head of sports at Caesars Sportsbook, said in a release. "With this $4.5 million bet on Joe and the Bengals, Mack will make history again."
McIngvale often uses the sports betting market to mitigate his risk on furniture giveaways. For example, this past baseball season, he spread around $13 million in bets on the Houston Astros to win the World Series, while offering to refund anyone who spent more than $3,000 in furniture at his store. The Astros lost in the World Series. He said he'll be doing so again on his bet on the Bengals, refunding anyone who spends $3,000 on furniture if Cincinnati wins the Super Bowl.
McIngvale bet $3.46 million on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3.5 on last year's Super Bowl as part of a promotional giveaway at his store. The Buccaneers delivered with a convincing upset of the Kansas City Chiefs, but McIngvale's been on a cold streak recently. He lost $4.7 million in a week betting on football in January, highlighted by a $2.7 million money-line bet on Alabama in the national championship game, which Georgia won. The following week, McIngvale saw $2 million in futures bets he placed on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl go up in flames with a 47-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs.
"I've always said that a setback is just a setup for a comeback," McIngvale said.
Bengals fans are hoping he's right.