Just days after collecting the largest sports betting payout in history, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale is at it again. On Tuesday, McIngvale placed a $500,000 bet on the University of Houston men's basketball team to win the NCAA Tournament during the 2022-23 season.
The Cougars currently have 10-1 odds, so McIngvale would earn a payout of $5 million if they were to win it all.
McIngvale made the bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss. The Houston area furniture store owner wired the $500,000 to the casino earlier in the day before making the bet in person on Tuesday using casino chips.
"I make these bets because we do promotions at the furniture store. Like if the Astros win the World Series you get your money back," McIngvale told WLOX. "I won $75 million on that bet, gave back $73 million to the customers and the other $2 million was expenses. It enables us to run these great promotions.
"People love them especially with local teams like the Houston Astros and Houston Cougars. We're having fun with these sports promotions, they work very well and it makes us relevant as a furniture store."
McIngvale traveled to Las Vegas after the Astors' World Series victory to collect his winnings from the massive bet he made on his local MLB team. Upon arriving, he was seen wheeling around a wheelbarrow full of cash, which he loaded onto a plane back to Houston.
