Mattress Mack Posts Another Record Mobile Wager, Betting $5 Million on a Bengals Super Bowl Win

Without legal sports betting sites in Texas, Mattress Mack has gone next door into Louisiana twice, using his smartphone to put more than $9.5 million combined on the Cincinnati Bengals to win Sunday’s Super Bowl.

On Friday, the Houston furniture salesman placed a $5 million bet on the Bengals to win, using the Caesars Sportsbook app. Last week, he bet $4.5 million. Caesars said these are record wagers.

If Cincinnati prevails, he will win $16,207,800.

The AFC champion Bengals face the NFC’s Los Angeles Rams Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Rams’ home field. Game time is 6:30 p.m. ET.

Louisiana Off To Good Mobile Start With Large Bets

Last month, mobile Louisiana sportsbooks became legal, prompting some Texans to cross the state line to wager.

Among those Texans is Jim McIngvale, known as Mattress Mack.

Ronnie Johns, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, told Gambling.com this week that Mattress Mack got Louisiana's mobile betting program off to the right start.

“I’ve heard of a couple of more big ones, but none like his,” Johns said.

Birthday Bet Placed Outside Louisiana Men’s Room

Celebrating his 71st birthday on Friday, McIngvale pulled into a rest stop near Vinton, Louisiana, about two hours from Houston. A television crew was there to broadcast the event.

As the TV camera focused on his phone, McIngvale placed a $5 million moneyline wager on the Bengals at +170. Wearing a Houston Astros jacket, he stood outside a men’s room, where the Wi-Fi connection was good.

Texan Places Two Biggest Mobile Bets in History

McIngvale’s bet on Friday eclipsed the multimillion-dollar moneyline bet he placed in Louisiana last week on the Bengals.

“Biggest legal Super Bowl bet in history,” McIngvale proclaimed Friday while wagering during a live broadcast on Houston’s KPRC-TV. “That’s why I came to Louisiana, to make a legal Super Bowl bet.”

The owner of Houston’s Gallery Furniture, McIngvale is running a promotion that would let customers who buy a mattress or reclining furniture for $3,000 or more have the items free if Cincinnati wins. A winning Super Bowl bet would cover the cost of the promotion, he said.

Sports Betting Years Away in Texas

After placing the bet on live TV, McIngvale said he expects Texas to authorize sports gambling someday, meaning he will not “have to drive over to Louisiana.”

Any possibility of legal sports betting in Texas, the nation’s second-most populous state, is years away.

The Texas Legislature won’t be able to take the issue until it next meets in Austin in 2023. If OK’d there, it would go before the public in a statewide vote. These steps, if approved, would push legal sports betting back to 2025 at the earliest.

The state with the largest number of residents, California, also does not have legal sports betting, though voters there are expected to have a chance to decide the issue on the November ballot.

Louisiana Only Regional State With Mobile Wagering

Louisiana is the only Gulf Coast state, from Texas to Florida, with legal mobile sports betting.

Since last month, sports wagering has been permitted in the 55 of 64 Louisiana parishes that approved it during a November 2020 statewide election.

Johns previously told Gambling.com he anticipated Louisiana would benefit from Texans driving into the state to bet.