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Seven Figure Bet on Houston Shows March Madness Has Taken Over Retail Mogul

Published 03/16/2023, 2:42 PM EDT

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The month of March is here, and the ‘Madness’ has started since this Tuesday. A single-elimination weeks-long tournament will see 68 teams clash with each other. This is the NCAA Division I Men’s college basketball or as is popularly known, March Madness, which also conducts ‘Selection Sunday’ to invite a handful of schools to participate. But what would this tournament be, if not for an American businessman who spices up the competition as he usually does? That’s correct. Jim McIngvale has yet again dropped a bet with his home team, Houston Cougars. And this time the amount is exorbitant.

A recent BETFTW! article shared the story of Jim McIngvale aka ‘Mattress Mack’ spicing up the tournament and exciting fans by placing a bet of $4.05 million on the Houston Cougars to win. Let’s find out more about this ‘mad’ deal.

All the money relies on Houston Cougars winning the March Madness

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McIngvale is known for owning and operating the Gallery Furniture retail chain in Houston, Texas. With his fast-paced sales pitch and energetic style, he climbed up the retail ladder. As a philanthropist, he has spent money on many issues over the years. But the other place where he places his money, without fail, is in sports.

A lifelong sports enthusiast and fan, McIngvale takes interest in it by placing enormous amounts of bets on various leagues across America.  $4.05 million is not a small amount by any margin. But for the love of his native city, and all local teams, McIngvale can go the distance. It isn’t just at the March Madness, Mattress Mack supports his team and bets on it during any opportunity he gets. Just last December, he bet another $1 million on the team to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship 8-1

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But McIngvale’s passion for sports doesn’t just start and end with Houston Cougars or neither with basketball. Last year February, he placed a $4.5 million eager on Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI. Although unfortunately, the Bengals lost to LA Rams in the final, it set the record for the largest mobile wager in sports betting history. It didn’t upset McIngvale. Instead, he placed a bet on baseball.

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Mattress Mack took an interest in the 2022 World Series. And without doubt, it was the Houston Astros on whom he placed his money. This time he struck gold. He won a total of $75 million in all payouts. This was again a record in being the highest total ever in sports betting history. Will he win his multi-million dollars bet this time around? It will all be clear on April 3rd at the NRG Stadium.

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Written by:

Tanmay Roy

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Tanmay Roy is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. He has done MBA and B.Tech in Civil Engineering.
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Edited by:

Gideon Mathson