In the latest edition of Whale Watch, our favorite furniture salesman — Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale — fired away on a $4.5 million bet on the Cincinnati Bengals to defeat the Los Angeles Rams and win Super Bowl 56.
Mattress Mack placed a money line wager worth $4.5 million on the Bengals at +170 odds to win Super Bowl 56 over at Caesars Sportsbook. If the Bengals defeat the LA Rams, Mattress Mack banks $7.7 million. So far, this is the largest bet on the Super Bowl this year, and it’s also the largest wager on the Bengals.
“I had to make like 20, $200,000 bets to make it work,” Mattress Mack told ESPN’s David Purdum. “I want to thank Caesars for taking it.”
Mattress Mack drove to the Texas and Louisiana border to place his Super Bowl bets via the Caesars Sportsbook app, now that legalized sports betting has come to the state of Louisiana.
This is the second consecutive year that Mattress Mack placed a seven-figure bet on the underdog in the Super Bowl. Last year, he bet $3.46 million on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, getting +2.5 points against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55. Mattress Mack just needed the Bucs to beat the point spread, but they won Super Bowl 55 outright and he won his bet.
$7.7 Million Payday on Bengals?
Mattress Mack typically fires big bets on sporting events, including horse racing, as a hedge for a promotion he runs for his furniture empire in the Houston area. In the past, Mattress Mack offers customers a full rebate if they purchase $3,000 or more furniture and a specific sports team wins a championship. In the past this popular ‘Win It All’ promotion involved his hometown Houston Astros. Earlier this year, it involved the Crimson Tide of Alabama.
In January, Mattress Mack lost $4.7 million in combined bets on college football and the NFL playoffs. He lost a significant wager when he backed Alabama against Georgia in the college football national championship. That misfire cost him $2.7 million when Georgia prevailed. He also donked off $2 million in futures wagers on the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl, but they were blown out in the AFC wild card by the Buffalo Bills.
Mattress Mack finally got some of his mojo back two weeks ago when he bet $1.1 million while backing the Cincinnati Bengals at +3.5 against the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional Round.
The Bengals are red hot and heading into the Super Bowl after knocking off the top two seeds in the AFC in back-to-back weeks. Thanks to heroics from quarterback Joe Burrow and rookie kicker Evan McPherson, the Bengals upset the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship to secure their first trip to the Super Bowl in 33 years.
The Bengals opened as +4 underdogs against the LA Rams. The Super Bowl line has since moved a half-point and the Bengals are currently +4.5 dogs. Mattress Mack’s big bet on the Bengals did not alter the overall betting line.