‘Mattress Mack’ makes another massive wager on Super Bowl
Mattress Mack celebrated his 71st birthday Friday by doubling down on the Bengals with the largest single bet he’s ever made.
Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale placed a $5 million wager to win $8.5 million on Cincinnati to upset the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.
He already had a $4.5 million bet on the Bengals on the money line (+170) and now has a total of $9.5 million to win $16.2 million riding on Cincinnati in Sunday’s game.
Mack drove himself across the border to Louisiana, where he pulled over at a rest stop and placed the $5 million bet on his Caesars Sportsbook mobile app.
Caesars said it was the largest bet the book has ever taken, eclipsing a $4.9 million wager on the St. Louis Rams on the money line (-900) over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots won 20-17.
“Caesar — at least for the moment — is a Rams fan,” Ken Fuchs, head of sports at Caesars Sportsbook, said in an email. “With nearly $10 million invested by Mack at this point, it’s impossible to sleep on his Bengals conviction.
“His latest $5 million bet is the largest wager ever made. … We wish Mack the best with his play, and can’t wait for Sunday’s kickoff.”
The Rams are 4-point favorites at Las Vegas sportsbooks and -190 on the money line.
The wagers on the Bengals are the latest in a long line of multimillion-dollar hedge bets by Mack to offset potential losses on furniture promotions. In this case, customers are offered their money back on any purchase of $3,000 or more if Cincinnati wins.
Mack said he doubled down on the Bengals because the promotion, which has expanded from mattress sets to include most of the furniture at his stores, is doing very well.
“Sales have been over the top so I had to get more on the Bengals to cover myself,” he said. “The last three days of the promotion are always the biggest. We exceeded the capability of the $4.5 million bet so I had to bet another one.”
Mack won $2.7 million on Tampa Bay +3½ over Kansas City in last year’s Super Bowl to snap a losing streak that included $13 million in losing bets on the Houston Astros to win the 2019 World Series.
Since cashing his tickets on the Buccaneers, Mack has lost a total of $12.8 million in wagers: $1 million on Houston to win the NCAA title, $2.4 million on Essential Quality to win the Kentucky Derby, $4 million on the Astros to win the World Series, $2.7 million on Alabama to win the College Football Playoff national title game, $2 million on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl and $1.7 million on the Titans to win the Super Bowl (offset by a $1 million win on the Bengals +3½ over Tennessee in the divisional round).
“One of the reasons I picked the Bengals is because I think it’s a lot closer than the point spread or money line indicates,” he said. “If you look at all these games this year, a lot of underdogs have won. Hopefully it will be a close game decided in the last seconds, like all the rest of them were.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.