The Houston Astros won the World Series for the second time after defeating the Philadelphia Phils. There is a time and a place for this.
A Texas furniture store owner who earlier this year placed $10 million in bets on the Houston Astros to win the World Series will get $75 million from the book.
Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale jumped for joy in his front-row seats at Minute Maid Park as the Astros won the World Series with a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia. It was the culmination of a six-month ride for the self-proclaimed "huckster" who placed a $3 million bet on the Astros to win the World Series in the parking lot of a Louisiana restaurant.
We can't say anything. The biggest check in sports betting history was written to Mattress Mack, according to a company release.
His other seven-figure bet was on the Astros. He bet around $7 million more on the Astros over the summer and won around $75 million. He will not be able to keep it all.
McIngvale uses the betting market to mitigate risk on promotions at his Gallery Furniture store that are based on the winner of big sporting events. The World Series has been his biggest promotion.
If the Astros win the World Series, this year's deal will double the customer's money back. The $75 million from his winning bets will be used to pay back happy customers who participated in the promotion.
In a recent profile, McIngvale said it was a win-WIN. The promotions give us a lot of brand equity that we wouldn't have otherwise. Customers talk about it for years because they love it. It probably increases the number of people following the Astros because now they have a vested interest in the team.
McIngvale's bets were more successful than Mack's, but that wasn't enough to mitigate the risk of the sportsbooks. Sportsbook Betfred, which had operated in the United Kingdom for decades, but only recently entered the U.S. market, took a $1 million bet on the Astros. Bryan Bennett said that the $1 million bet was larger than any other bet the company had taken.
Fred Done, veteran owner of Betfred in the U.K., said in a video release that he wanted to congratulate all of the people in Texas and Houston Astros fans. To put your money on the line was something you had the courage to do. At five-to-one, you put $1 million on the Astros. They got the win. I'm paying you and you deserve it.
Betfred's 50-plus-year history shows that the $5 million netPayout to McIngvale is the largest in the company's history.
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