Houston furniture magnate Jim McIngvale, aka Mattress Mack, is well-known for his massive wagers on sporting events and he's at it again for tonight's national championship game between No. 3 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama from Indianapolis. He has put down two wagers totaling $2.7 million at Caesars Sportsbook on the Alabama moneyline, which would be worth $3.225 million if the Tide pull the mino r upset. They are currently +2.5, the first time Bama is a dog in a national title game under Nick Saban.
Mattress Mack made the wagers as a hedge to offset potential losses on a promotion at his Gallery Furniture stores that offer refunds on purchases of $3,000 or more if Alabama wins. He tends to bet big on the hometown Astros to win the World Series every MLB'postseason.'
“With the national championship on the line, we at Caesars Sportsbook are always excited to take the biggest bets on the biggest events,” said Ken Fuchs, Head of Sports at Caesars Sportsbook. “We'll see how Nick Saban and Alabama do as current underdogs. Clearly a lot of bettors are siding with the Crimson Tide, including a Louisiana bettor who wagered $300k on them at one of our properties. Bets are flowing in and we look forward to seeing how it plays out.”
Mattress Mack isn't the only one hammering Alabama on the moneyline as 91 percent of the money is o n the Tide. On the spread, Georgia opened at -2 but early action saw that get to -3. It dipped to back to -2 as recently as yesterday and could close there even though it's currently -2.5. Seventy percent of money on the spread is backing UGA.