'Mattress Mack' drops another half-million dollar wager on Rays vs. Astros Game 5

Last week here at SportsLine, we wrote about Houston businessman Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, the owner of Gallery Furniture in Houston. His stores were running a promotion in that area called "Win It All" where any customer who made a qualified purchase during the season of at least $3,000 would receive a full refund if the Astros won their second World Series in three years. "Mattress Mack" had put down around $5 million combined on Houston to win it as a hedge since the regular season ended.

Two years ago, he did the same thing with the same promotion: "We hedged off about $12 million-$13 million in that promotion," McIngvale told the Las Vegas Sun recently. "It worked out very well for us."

As of Wednesday, the Astros remain +195 favorites on the FanDuel MLB futures odds to win the World Series, but they have unexpectedly been pushed to a Game 5 at home Thursday in the ALDS by the team with the lowest payroll in the majors, the Tampa Bay Rays. Behind Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole, the Astros are heavy -280 favorites Thursday on the MLB odds. Cole struck out 15 Rays, an Astros playoff record, in a Game 2 victory. The Rays counter with Tyler Glasnow.

According to various reports "Mattress Mack" is doubling down on Houston as he placed a $504,000 bet on the Astros to win Game 5 at a price of -252 (sportsbook unclear). A Houston win would earn McIngvale $200,000.  The Astros have lost many times this year as heavy favorites. On Aug. 12, the Astros were the biggest road favorites in MLB history (as high as -550 at some books) and lost 8-7 in Baltimore. On Aug. 21 at home, Houston was around -500 at home vs. Detroit and lost.