THE world’s biggest sports punter is on the verge of a record £65 MILLION payout.
The 71-year-old furniture magnate Jim McIngvale – nicknamed Mattress Mack – placed an £8.5 million bet on his team to win the baseball World Series.
And after swatting aside the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees earlier in MLB’s play-offs, the Houston Astros are the red-hot favourites to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the seven-game series, which starts on October 28.
He is famous for placing huge bets on sports events and major horse races – and earlier this year he lost £1 million after his horse was beaten in the Kentucky Derby.
That was just three months after he lost £7 million on the Bengals in the Super Bowl.
Sports betting is currently illegal in the state of Texas, where Mattress Mack lives, so he either travels to Las Vegas to place his bets or drives 100 miles east into Louisiana to punt online.
But the genius of his system is that he always wins – even when his bets lose.
He often ties in his mega money wagers with promotions running in his furniture shops in which anyone who buys a mattress will get their money back if his bet wins.
His in-store promos have been so successful that he is always in a win-win situation when he places his massive bets.
It will be the same case if the Astros beat the Phillies – and US sports experts are widely expecting them to get the job done.
They have been to the World Series four times in the last six years and knocked out the Mariners and Yankees without losing a game.
Mattress Mack has been backing the Astros to win the MLB title throughout the year at odds of around 13-2 – and they are now 4-9 with Paddy Power to win the World Series.
But he doesn’t keep his valuable betting slips in a high-security lock-up.
He carries them around in his ‘beaten-up’ Houston Astros backpack, which he keeps with him at all times as he works behind the front desk at his Houston mattress store.
He said: “I just get bored to death with stability, which is why I guess I like all of these big bets.
“I thrive on chaos.”
Ken Fuchs, the head of sport at Caesars Entertainment added: “We take large wagers from sports bettors of all stripes, but I’m not sure anyone does it with as much panache as Mack.”
The Houston Astros host game one of the World Series on Friday, with Mattress Mack expected to be among the 45,000 spectators as they chase their first title since 2017.
And if they can beat the Phillies, Mack’s £65 million win will go down in history as the biggest single sports betting payout of all time.
