Furniture salesman should have taken the points.
Did your sports betting bankroll increase after the Rams' 23-20 win over the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI?
Hopefully, you followed SI Betting’s scoop involving the novelty wager of The Next Episode being the first song performed during the halftime show or the respected steam player prop from Vegas that Ja'Marr Chase would surpass 2.5 rushing yards!
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
But the Rams' win was not good for the Texas businessman best known as "Mattress Mack,” who wound up on the losing end of the biggest sports betting wagers in history. According to the New York Post, furniture store owner Jim McIngvale, placed $9.5 million in bets on the Bengals on the moneyline to upset the Rams.
As many have come to learn, his large wagers are linked to promotions for his Houston furniture business. McIngvale scored massively in last year’s Super Bowl after betting nearly $3.5 million on the 3.5-point spread involving Tampa Bay to cover against the Chiefs.
This year, Mattress Mack got greedy and swung for the big payout that would have potentially netted $16.15 million. If he had followed last year’s successful strategy, he would have won. Cincinnati covered the 4.5-point spread, only coming up three points short of Los Angeles.
That is not even the worst part.
Since the start of 2022, four of his last five bets have all now been graded by sportsbooks as losing wagers.
His $2.7 million moneyline bet on Alabama to win the national championship lost when Georgia took down the Tide, 33-18, as three-point favorites.
When Buffalo crushed the Patriots, 47-17, in the Wild Card round, McIngvale lost a $2 million bet he placed back in November on New England to win Super Bowl LVI at odds of 23-1 that would have netted a whopping $46 million.
In the Divisional round, McInvgale wagered $700,000 on the Titans to win their first Super Bowl in the futures’ market at odds of +850. After placing the first bet, which would have returned $5.95 million, he tried to “hit the middle,” as we call it in the gambling space, by betting $1.1 million on Cincinnati to cover the 3.5-point spread. As we know, the Bengals won outright, which netted McIngvale a small profit, but lost his Titans investment.
Just how bad is the overall damage in 2022? According to Darren Rovell of the Action Network, since Jan. 1, Mattress Mack has reportedly lost $15.43 million. Ouch.
After betting more than $13 million on the Astros to win the World Series back in October of last year, most would feel terrible for McIngvale. However, as we alluded to earlier, his bets are not made with the typical gambling risk. He places the wagers more or less to cover the cost of the promotions he runs at his three furniture stores. If the Bengals had held on and won their first Super Bowl in team history, anyone who bought more than $3,000 worth of furniture or mattresses would have received their purchase free of charge.
If we should feel bad for anyone, besides the Bengals and their fans, it should be those Houston customers who came so close to getting their furniture for free!
Frankie Taddeo is a successful high-stakes fantasy football player who created the first-ever DFS program ever offered in a Las Vegas sportsbook. Frankie is SI Betting's Senior Analyst who provides his significant experience and resources in the sports betting scene. You can follow Frankie on Twitter @Frankie_Fantasy for his latest betting and fantasy insights from Las Vegas.
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