Don’t sleep on this furniture store owner’s incredible Super Bowl bet

The American Gaming Association estimates that more than $7.6 billion will be bet on the Super Bowl this year. Houston businessman “Mattress Mack” certainly is doing his part to reach that staggering figure.

The colorful amateur sports bettor placed a $5 million wager on the Bengals’ money line on Friday at +170. Houston NBC affiliate KPRC said he made the play outside a men’s room in Vinton, La., through the Caesars app. Mack makes his plays in Louisiana because sports betting is not yet legal in Texas, something that figures to change as lawmakers see the lost revenue.

Mack’s bet is believed to be the largest wager in U.S. history, surpassing a $4.9 million play in 2002 on the Rams (-900) to beat the Patriots outright. That wager lost when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal at the gun.

Mack (aka Jim McIngvale) ties his enormous bets to mattress promotions for his furniture stores. If the Bengals win, anyone who purchased a mattress set will get a $3,000 refund (which the sportsbooks indirectly pay for). If the Rams win, Mack doesn’t issue refunds. Capitalism at its finest.

Friday’s play comes less than a week after Mack put in a $4.5 million play on Cincy at the same odds of +170. If the Bengals, who are 4.5-point underdogs, pull off the slight upset, he’ll collect $16,207,800.

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“Caesar – at least for the moment – is a Rams fan,” said Ken Fuchs, of Caesars Sportsbook.

Professional handicappers, who often have trouble betting meaningful stakes at some sportsbooks, can only roll their eyes.

We like to chuckle at some of the wild proposition bets offered for Super Bowl Sunday. As we all know, there are plenty of ways to help separate a bettor from his money.

But there’s also the chance to pick up some cash. Consistently beating the point spread, especially in the NFL, is almost hopeless. The lines are sharp enough that the Goodfellas guys can slice garlic with ‘em. Prop wagers, however, may have some bookie vulnerabilities.

“There’s a lot of surface area that the sportsbooks have to defend against when it comes to props,” Jack Andrews, a professional bettor and co-founder of Unabated.com, said on a recent podcast. “There are hundreds and thousands of props out there and they can’t protect against all of them. They’re going to have some weak points. The savvy bettor – someone who is willing to put in the time and effort -- can find those weak points, [can] exploit them.”

After some shopping around, here are a few props we’re gonna chop up with our very amateur $100 stake

*Total Interceptions. Most houses have an over/under of 0.5 interceptions for each quarterback with the number juiced to the over. DraftKings has Joe Burrow -140 and Matthew Stafford -150 to throw at least one interception. SuperBook has a line of -110 on over 1.5 interceptions combined by both teams (not just Stafford and Burrow). That would be my play for $25.

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*Punts by Johnny Hekker. He’s a weapon for the Rams, and SuperBook was offering +120 on over 3.5 punts. Hekker punted only once against San Fran in the NFC championship game, but his six previous playoff games – all with Sean McVay head coaching – he had at least four punts. He had nine in that dreadful Super Bowl 53 loss to the Patriots three years ago. As much as we’d love to cash this winner, nobody’s rooting for that. But over 3.5 punts is worth $25.

*Joe Burrow’s TD passes. The line is generally 1.5, but the juice can vary. At FanDuel, over was at -154 mid-week. BetMGM had -165. DraftKings was at -180. SuperBook took it a step further and offered +230 on Burrow having over 2.5 TD passes. Three TD passes for Joe Cool in the biggest game of his life? Why not for 25 bucks.

*More rushing yards, Cam Akers or Joe Mixon. Akers is -6.5. Mixon might get 20 carries. Akers had 24 in the second round against Tampa, but also fumbled twice. Put that final $25 on Mixon to have more rushing yards.

Usually would fade a guy with $5 million on a single play, but I’m with “Mattress Mack” and like the Bengals. Having the week off after their stirring comeback win at Kansas City should help. Biggest concern is the Bengals offensive line against a Rams defense led by bullies Aaron Donald and Von Miller. Look for Bengals, 27-26, with a reminder that the Bengals money line is +170, yet Joe Burrow’s odds of winning MVP are +225. Can one happen without the other?

*Playoff record: 9-4 (including props). Season: 27-11.

Various handle splits at DraftKings books nationwide as of Friday afternoon:

Point spread (Rams +4): 57% on Bengals, 43% on Rams.

Money line (Rams -200, Bengals +170): 65% on Bengals, 35% on Rams

Over/under: (48.5): 57% on over, 43% on under.

NBA: The Sixers championship odds dropped from 12-1 to 7-1 after they acquired James Harden on Thursday. As of Friday afternoon, they were even lower. PointsBet had them at 11-2 to win the title. BetMGM was still at 7-1 for the championship, 5-2 to win the Eastern Conference.

TV: It’s going to be interesting to see how much sports betting chatter Al Michaels mixes in as he’s calling Sunday’s game for NBC. Michaels, who has called himself a “rascal” for his sometimes mischievous references to the line back when such a thing was taboo, is one of the few announcers who knows his ATS from a hole in the ground. “Most announcers struggle when to go for 2, and 4th down,” tweeted Kiran Patel. “Gambling to them is about 50 years away.”

OMG: Horribly bad beat in college hoops this week when Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe had a wide-open dunk with four seconds left but dribbled it out instead. The Wildcats were up, 86-76 and laying 10.5 points to South Carolina. Tshiebwe actually did decide to dunk it, but only after the buzzer sounded.

NFL: The Superbook in Vegas has a prop on whether there will be more Rams touchdowns in the first half (-130) or NCAA Tournament wins by the Villanova men (-110). Villanova is minus-½ and the bet becomes no play if the Wildcats do not make the tournament.

VSIN’s Ben Fawkes provided us with this handy list of states and territories offering legalized Super Bowl wagering over the last five years.

2018: 1 state (Nevada)

2019: 8 states (including Pa./NJ/Del.)

2020: 14 states

2021: 20 states, plus Washington, D.C.

2022: 30 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico