Mattress Mack was back with $2 million in bets on Texas in early December at Caesars Sportsbook.
Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale just didn’t want to publicize his wagers until after the Longhorns lost to Ohio State 28-14 on Friday in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“I was hoping that they’d win,” he said Monday. “I didn’t want to jinx it and have people second-guessing me. If they had won that game, I would’ve bet some more, but it didn’t work out.”
McIngvale, 73, lost a $1.5 million bet on Texas to win the CFP national title game at +390 odds. He also lost a $500,000 money-line bet on Texas (-135) in the SEC championship game Dec. 7 when it lost 22-19 in overtime to Georgia.
The wagers were the latest in a series of multimillion-dollar bets placed by McIngvale to reduce risk on promotions at his Gallery Furniture stores. In this case, he offered customers who made a purchase of $4,000 or more their money back if Texas won the national title.
“They’re into all of these promotions heavy,” he said. “If they had won that game, it would’ve been a crazy last 10 days (before the national championship). We would’ve had two full weekends to sell, but it didn’t work out.”
McIngvale has bet big on the Texans in the past, losing $500,000 in wagers on Houston last season when it lost 34-10 to the Ravens in the divisional round.
Houston is an 8-point underdog at Kansas City in Saturday’s divisional round game and 50-1 to win the Super Bowl. McIngvale said he’s not sure if he’ll bet on the Texans again or not.
“I’m thinking about it,” he said. “It’s a tall order, though, playing (Chiefs quarterback Patrick) Mahomes.”
Mack on mend
McIngvale placed the bets on the Longhorns a few days before he had successful open-heart surgery Dec. 10 at Methodist Hospital in Houston. The surgery was to fix a leaky mitral valve in his heart.
He underwent another medical procedure on Christmas Eve to remove fluid around his heart.
“Healthwise, I’m improving,” he said. “It’s a long, uphill climb, but I’m much better than I was two weeks ago. I’m back to work all the time, and I’m walking about three miles a day. I’m doing good.”
Early action on Irish
Ohio State opened at the Westgate SuperBook as an 8½-point favorite over Notre Dame in Monday’s CFP national title game before the line quickly climbed to 9½.
The consensus line dropped back to 8½ on Sunday and dipped to 8 on Monday.
“We took a very respected play (Sunday) morning on Notre Dame +9½, -105. It looks like pretty much the whole market moved down to 8½ after that group played,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said. “You’re going to get enough support for Notre Dame just because they’re Notre Dame and they’re so popular.
“But you’re going to have so many money-line parlays people will throw Ohio State into, thinking how can they lose? Just because of the injuries Notre Dame has and the perception that Ohio State is clearly the best team.”
The total also has moved, dropping from an opener of 47½ to 45½.
The Buckeyes are 3-0 against the spread in the CFP after whipping Tennessee, Oregon and Texas by an average score of 37-17. The Fighting Irish have covered 11 straight.
“I look at it as a title fight,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Ohio State has been so good in the playoffs. People are saying Notre Dame doesn’t have a chance. But I give them a puncher’s chance. They can play really good defense.
“I think you’ll see a lot of Notre Dame money show, and we’re seeing some Notre Dame action already. They’re kind of like everybody’s dad’s favorite team.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
