What Happens When a CEO Bets on His Customers. Literally

Dr Ruby Dhalla

How a 71‑year‑old furniture salesman turned a “crazy” gamble into a $75M brand‑building masterclass

 

Meet Jim McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack”, the owner of Houston’s Gallery Furniture.

He didn’t start with deep pockets or a famous name. He began with $5,000, an old pickup, and a tent on the side of the road, selling furniture to anyone who’d stop. Today, he runs a retail empire worth hundreds of millions.

But Mack isn’t just an entrepreneur. He’s a case study in behavioral psychology and brand trust.

Buying a $3,000 mattress or sofa is a painful purchase. It’s a big ticket item, but it’s not “sexy”, it doesn’t feel exciting like a car or a vacation.

Economists call this the “pain of paying.” The customer hesitates, comparison shops endlessly, and often delays.

So Mack asked: How do we make that purchase unforgettable, without changing the product?

The 2022 “bet on the Astros” promotion:

Here’s the playbook:

– Buy $3,000+ in qualifying furniture or mattresses.
– If the Houston Astros win the World Series, you get your full purchase price back, and keep the furniture.

To the public, it sounded like financial madness:
– What if the team wins?
– Won’t he go bankrupt paying back tens of millions?

But Mack wasn’t gambling. He was hedging.

The financial genius: skin in the game, perfectly priced:
He took about $10M from the sales, flew to Las Vegas, and placed futures bets on the Astros to
win the World Series.

Simple math:
– If Astros lose: He keeps ~$70M in sales and loses ~$10M on bets. Net result: strong profit, record traffic, and PR.
– If Astros win: He pays out the refunds, but wins ~$75M in sportsbook payouts. Net result:
refunds are covered, and the brand becomes a national story.

Hint: this is why he does it.
What actually happened (the real ending)

 

The Astros won the 2022 World Series in six games, beating the Phillies.

Mack collected his reported $75M ~$75M payout, the largest legal sports betting win in U.S. history at the time, and used that money to fund the customer refunds.

Thousands lined up at Gallery Furniture stores, waiting hours to collect checks, fully paid from the sportsbook winnings, not the store’s bottom line.

The promotion was a complete success: incredible sales, flawless customer delivery, and priceless brand equity.

 

The branding psychology: shared destiny:

Mack didn’t just run a promotion. He did something his competitors would never dare: he
aligned his financial fate with his customers’.

From the moment you bought that $3,000 mattress, you weren’t just a shopper, you were on the
same team as the brand.

He reframed the store from “furniture retailer” to “I’ve got your back, and I want you to win.”
That’s radical trust. That’s skin in the game played right.

The real lesson for brands (especially in hospitality)

Great brands aren’t built on discounts. They’re built when the founder is willing to take real, visible risks to make customers feel safe, valued, and emotionally connected.

– When a hotel general manager personally guarantees a special rate for a long‑stay group…
– When a brand puts a “no hassle” refund or price‑match promise on the front page…
– When a manager steps in to fix a guest’s problem at their own cost…

That’s the kind of loyalty that can’t be bought with a 10% off coupon.

Because once people feel emotionally bonded to you, they don’t replace you. They advocate for you.