Mattress Mack wins $115m after Houston Astros win World Series

An American business owner notorious for his ludicrous gambling habits celebrated as a bet on his home team saluted on Sunday.

Mattress Mack wins a lot of dough

Mattress Mack has done it again.

The American business owner has never been afraid of splashing the cash on the punt and he went big for the baseball playoffs.

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Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is a Houston native and super fan who throws big dollars behind his teams claiming the ultimate glory.

Before the Major League Baseball playoffs got underway, McIngvale was so confident the Houston Astros had what it takes to capture the World Series crown he parted with $10 million.

Yes that’s right he bet $10 million (USD) on his beloved Astros to reign supreme.

There were nervous times throughout the playoffs for McIngvale and even in the World Series when the Philadelphia Phillies took a 2-1 series lead.

The Astros responded emphatically as they won the next three games, the final coming on Sunday to win it all and bounce back from their World Series loss last year.

In the front row just behind the dugout, McIngvale celebrated the victory which pocketed him a cool $AUD115 million.

Mattress Mack after winning $75 MILLION 💰💰 on the @astros 🤯

📹 @br_betting

pic.twitter.com/Z65DnN7jwp

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) November 6, 2022

With a net worth of a reported $463m, the gamble was effectively pocket change for the business mogul.

“I just have what you might call a high tolerance for risk,” McIngvale said to ESPN.

“Damon Runyon said, ‘All horse players die broke.’ And I know I shouldn’t bet with my heart, but it’s hard not to, and it’s a lot more fun.”

It isn’t the first time McIngvale has thrown caution to the wind and parted with more money than the average human will see in their lifetime.

When the Astros won it all in 2017, he ran a promotion offering up free mattresses from his stores if the Houston based team defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He reportedly lost $10 million worth of mattresses, but had hedged his bets ahead of the series.

How tweet it is 75 million pic.twitter.com/btaCd8bYY6

— @MattressMack (@MattressMack) November 6, 2022

Yordan Alvarez smashed a three-run homer and the Houston Astros captured their second World Series in six seasons with a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia.

The Cuban slugger’s sixth-inning blast off Phillies relief pitcher Jose Alvarado gave Houston the lead for good as the Astros took Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven championship final four games to two.

“I just tried to stay a little calm and get a good pitch to swing at and that’s what I did,” Alvarez said of his third game-winning playoff homer.

“It was amazing. When I was rounding second base I felt the whole stadium moving.” The home victory brought 73-year-old Astros manager Dusty Baker his first World Series crown in 25 seasons as an MLB bench boss.

“That’s the final chapter to the movie,” Baker said. “They told me in spring training they were going to win. Now what’s next? Party.” Baker, whose 2,093 wins were the most for any manager without a World Series title, quickly enjoyed the long-sought title.

“It hit me all right,” Baker said. “It hit me as soon as Yordan hit that ball over the moon out there.” The Astros, in their fourth World Series in six seasons and fifth overall, won their only prior title in 2017.

Many MLB fans see that as a tainted title after the Astros were found to have used an electronic sign stealing system, allowing Houston batters to know what pitch was coming.

Baker took over in January 2020 after A.J. Hinch was fired over the scandal and helped the Astros put the shameful episode behind them.

Smiles all around in Houston. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

“All the stuff we’ve been going through the last three years, hopefully it’s over,” Baker said. “You’ve got to let it ride.” The Astros, who lost the 2019 World Series to Washington and 2021 Series to Atlanta, were emotional about winning the crown for Baker.

“He means everything,” said Astros star Jose Altuve, among five players from 2017 still on the roster. “He came here at the right time with the right team.” Houston’s Jeremy Pena became the first rookie position player to be named World Series Most Valuable Player and only the second rookie MVP of a league final and World Series.

The 25-year-old Dominican became the first rookie with a hit in each of the first six games of a World Series.

“Individual awards are cool and all but that’s the trophy we want right there,” Pena said, looking at the champion’s trophy. “This is what we dream about.” The Phillies, who sought their third World Series crown after 1980 and 2008, had not reached the playoffs since 2011 and hadn’t reached the World Series since 2009.

“I’m really proud of them,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “They came to play every day. They played hard.” Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler took his second loss of the Series while Dominican left-hander Framber Valdez struck out nine and improved to 3-0 in the playoffs.

Kyle Schwarber blasted a solo homer in the sixth to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the sixth, Altuve reached first base on a fielder’s choice and took third on a Pena single, prompting the Phillies to remove Wheeler for Alvarado.

– with AFP

Originally published as Mattress Mack wins $115m after Houston Astros win World Series