College Basketball

2023 March Madness odds: Mattress Mack, No. 1 seeds out of tournament

Updated Jul. 20, 2023 2:45 p.m. ET

That huge whooshing sound emanating from Vegas sportsbooks and oddsmakers around the country Friday night was a collective sigh of relief. That’s what eliminating $35 million in liability will do.

As the March Madness odds board reaches the Elite Eight, there’s not a single No. 1 seed remaining. Purdue bowed out in the first round, Kansas in the second round, and in games played simultaneously Friday night, No. 1 seeds Alabama and Houston hit the eject button.

The Crimson Tide were the NCAA tournament’s overall No. 1 seed. But a handful of bookmakers were far more relieved to see the Cougars have a not-so-Sweet 16.

Mattress Mack Gives Some Back

Back in November and December, renowned Houston furniture store magnate and big bettor Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale put down a series of March Madness championship futures bets on his Houston Cougars.

There were three, seven-figure wagers: $1.05 million on Houston +850 at FanDuel Sportsbook; $1 million Houston +900 at DraftKings; and $1 million on Houston +800 at Caesars Sports. In addition, McIngvale placed two $500,000 wagers on Houston, at +1000 at BetMGM and +900 at Barstool Sportsbook.

That’s $4.05 million in wagers. The Cougars were the odds-on favorite to win the title much of the season, only recently taking a back seat to Alabama. But Friday night, No. 5 seed Miami was having none of it, beating Houston 89-75, with the Hurricanes 6.5-point underdogs.

"Houston’s elimination was fantastic for BetMGM on a game and futures basis," BetMGM vice president of trading Jason Scott said Friday night. "Mattress Mack had invested $500,000 at 10/1 preseason, and now we only have to win another $9.5 million off him to break even on his Astros World Series bet!"

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Scott was alluding to McIngvale’s massive World Series score against the bookmakers. Mattress Mack made $10 million worth of championship futures bets on the Houston Astros, at odds ranging from +1200 down to +500. The largest bet: $3 million with Caesars Sports at +1000 for a profit of $30 million, the largest payout in the history of U.S. legal, regulated sports betting.

In total, Mack cleared more than $70 million in World Series winnings when the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. McIngvale took Friday night’s turnabout in stride.

"I love the Cougs, win, lose or draw," he said while attending the grand opening of the Horseshoe Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. He was flanked by legendary poker player Doyle Brunson, among others.

FOX Bet Trading Operations Senior Manager Dylan Brossman said Friday overall was good for the sportsbook.

"Three of the four games last night were positive results for us – the only game where the public had us beat was the Miami ‘upset’ over Houston; bettors were all over that one," Brossman said. "The Alabama loss was the biggest win for us, with a majority of the money on Bama to both win and also to cover."

While it would’ve been another massive win, there’s no need to fret for McIngvale, who obviously has the disposable income for this type of activity. Furthermore, per usual, Mack’s bets were a hedge on a promotion for his furniture store. Customers who purchased $5,000 or more worth of furniture over the past few months would get their money back if the Cougars won the championship.

Unlike with the Astros, fate didn’t fall the customers’ way this time. And while Mack lost his bets, he retained the money from all those furniture sales, basically making it a wash for the promotion.

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.

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