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Gambling911.com readers may recall that our friend Jim McIngvale, the multi-millionaire Texas furniture store chain owner who goes by the nickname “Mattress Mack,” has placed some pretty substantial bets of late.
But Texas has yet to legalize sports betting, and probably won't in our lifetime.
McIngvale has placed most of his wagers in neighboring Louisiana.
That state legalized sports betting this past year with the exception of a few parishes that voted against the activity. Most of those have populations of a few thousand.
Mack told our Thomas Somach he placed his big World Series bets on the Astros last year, and we fully expect he'll be placing more Astros bets for the 2022 Playoffs as they maintain short odds heading into September.
“Back in June (of 2021), when the Astros weren’t playing that well, I bet $2 million on them at Caesars at 10 to 1 odds to win the World Series,” McIngvale said.
“I also bet $1 million at FanDuel at 10 to 1 odds and $100,000 at Score at 16 to 1 odds and $250,000 at DraftKings at 16 to 1 odds.”
“Mattress Mack,” who gets his nickname because he sells a lot of mattresses at his three Houston-area stores, didn’t just bet big on Houston to win the World Series because he’s a diehard Astros fan— the whole thing is a promotional effort (some would say publicity stunt) to sell more mattresses.
“This is a hedge bet,” said McIngvale, who traveled to Atlanta for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series and who has 35 season tickets for the Astros.
“In the past year I have sold 4,000 mattresses at $3,000 each. If the Astros win the World Series, every one of those mattress buyers will be refunded the full amount, which will be a total of about $12 million. After paying that out, it will leave a little bit of pocket change for me.
“In brick and mortar retail these days we are threatened by Amazon and other online dealers,” he continued. “We have to do something that makes us relevant.
“Giving the customer a chance to get their money back on a popular sports promotion has been a great way to increase interest in our store and get a lot of buzz. I’ve gotten a lot of media buzz on the futures bet so it’s working right now.”
Mack didn't have to travel too far to place this type of bet, just under four hours. That's how far the nearest Caesars Sportsbook is to Houston. They operate two in Bossier City, Louisiana.
It's been pointed out, via Twitter, that Louisiana sports betting apps are being promoted at Minute Maid ballpark in Houston.
Note the @BetMGM “Live in Louisiana” signage at Minute Maid in Houston. With sports betting illegal in Texas, the Louisiana gaming market has benefitted, especially Vinton and Lake Charles. pic.twitter.com/P8e1DsBskF
— Larry Henry (@NEWSLarryHenry) August 24, 2022
If you are lucky enough to live in Beaumont, Texas, you can simply cross the border into Louisiana and place your mobile bets.
Houston is around two hours in traffic to Louisiana. Dallas is a lot further at nearly three hours.
Of course, we gotta ask, what's the point? When you can bet with offshore books from your Texas home anonymously.
- Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
