The biggest Phillies fans? Sportsbooks
Astros fans would love nothing more than to see Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale cash in on his most recent venture into sports gambling. If McIngvale wins, Houston wins. Besides a big check for McIngvale, it also will mean the Astros beat the Phillies in the World Series and everyone who bought at least $3,000 worth of mattresses and bed sets from Mack’s Gallery Furniture store will get double their money back.
Besides Phillies fans and Astros haters, there is a specific group of people rooting fiercely against McIngvale and the Astros: The sportsbooks that would be on the hook for a combined $75 million payout.
“I’m definitely a Phillies fan this week,” said Ken Fuchs, head of sports at Caesars Sportsbook.
Through multiple large bets, McIngvale put down a total of $10 million over the summer on the Astros to win the World Series. At the time, teams like the Yankees and Dodgers were considered much bigger favorites than the Astros, so McIngvale got such favorable odds that his $10 million would earn him a $75 million payday. One of those bets is a $3 million wager at 10to-1 odds that McIngvale placed through the Caesars Sportsbook app. A $30 million payout from Caesars would be the largest win ever through a legal sportsbook in the United States.
“It’s a pretty big bet, but we’re obviously Caesars and risk is what we do,” Fuchs said. “We’re very used to risk. For a sports bet, it is a big one, no doubt. We’ll see what happens, but we’ll be getting the combination to the vault ready in case he wins.”
McIngvale got the longest odds from the WynnBET app which allowed him to wager $1 million on the Astros at 12-to-1 odds. When he placed that bet on May 13, the Astros were 26-15, led the Angels by just 1.5 games in the American League West and the Yankees, Dodgers, Brewers, Padres and Mets all had superior records. The Astros ended up winning 106 games and only the Dodgers, who were eliminated in the division series, finished with a better regular season record.
“It’s a pretty sizable loss, so it’s for sure not the most enjoyable experience I’ve had in my career,” WynnBET’s vice president of trading Alan Berg said of the possibility of losing the sportsbook’s side of the wager. “That said, when you make a bet in May and it cashes in November, you just have to tip your cap to the player.”
With the field whittled down to just two teams, the Astros are nearly 2-to-1 favorites to win the World Series, which begins Friday night at Minute Maid Park, over the Phillies.
“I feel good where I’m at right now,” McIngvale said during the Astros’ series against the Yankees. “The Astros are favorites, and they’re playing well.”
Although he’d be setting sports gambling records with an Astros win, McIngvale — who makes these huge bets to hedge against his in-store promotions that offers customers their money back on certain purchases, or double their money in the Astros case, if a certain team wins a big sporting event — has taken a beating from the sportsbooks in the past.
Last February, he made the biggest online sports wager of all-time when he put down $4.5 million through Caesars on the Bengals to beat the Rams in the Super Bowl. The Bengals ended up losing 23-20 on a touchdown in the final two minutes. McIngvale also lost multimillion dollar wagers on the Astros to win the World Series in both 2019 and 2021.
“He’s won some and he’s lost some, and we’ve won some and lost some with him,” Fuchs said. “At the end of the day, it’s a pleasure to work with him. He’s incredibly passionate about his city and his sports teams. We respect his passion and that he leads with his heart. He’s betting the biggest events and the biggest teams and that’s what we do, so we’re perfectly comfortable being on the other side of him.”
Fuchs said Caesars always will be willing to take action from McIngvale, but he’s not sure he’ll be able to convince the avid gambler to stick with the home team and wager his possible winnings on the Texans’ Super Bowl chances.
“Not sure I can sell anyone on that one,” Fuchs said.