Chris Boline
If you bring up sports betting on Texas teams to anyone out there, you’re of course going to hear about the one and only Mattress Mack. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is known for putting down a massive amount of money on his favorite teams, of course including the Houston Astros. With the Astros in the middle of another great season, looking as the favorites to win the AL West this year, McIngvale thinks more glory is on the way. That’s right, ‘Mattress Mack’ puts another massive bet on Astros to win World Series.
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, as McIngvale never wastes a good opportunity to lay down some serious dough on his favorite baseball team. The fact of the matter, though, is that McIngvale bet $2 million on the Astros to win the World Series. This is a number that has really raised eyebrows, as it’s no small amount of change. Having said that, it’s clear that McIngvale has strong belief in the Astros to win it all.
Right now, Houston indeed is looking like one of the best teams in baseball, as they’re loaded on both sides – pitching and hitting. For pitching, the return of Justin Verlander has been great to see. The veteran starting pitcher missed last season due to injury, but he hasn’t missed a beat and is looking like his old self. This has obviously been great to see for all of the Astros fans out there, as he’s once again dominating.
Houston has strong MLB odds, and if it wasn’t for how the New York Yankees were playing right now, the Astros would certainly be the favorites coming out of the American League. With Jose Altuve still playing so well too, this is only going to help the team’s chances once the fall rolls around. Believe it or not, but a lot of people think that Houston is a better team than the Yankees. It’s clear that Mattress Mack also feels that way.
Mattress Mack placing a cool 2 million for the Astros to win the World Series at the @BSSportsbook is the content we love to see #LevelUp pic.twitter.com/7bDZnVg4NF
— Barstool Houston (@HtownBarstool) July 18, 2022
Yankees still hold the best fall classic numbers
While Mack is obviously high on the Astros, don’t forget that the Yankees still hold the best fall classic numbers. As things stand, NY has +300 odds to win the World Series, while the Astros are +450. Meanwhile for the National League, the Dodgers are No. 1 for the NL at +350. The expectation is that LA will move on to the World Series, while it will come down to the Yankees and Astros as the squad to represent the AL.
Things are only going to heat up with the second half of the season arriving. The All-Star Game is always a ton of fun, and it makes the midway point of the campaign. Now, every team out there is going to be ready to try and make some serious noise, while also making a push for the postseason. The Seattle Mariners for example are the hottest team in the bigs, as they’ve won 14 straight contests. No one saw that coming.
Speaking of the Mariners, they’ll be hosting the Astros for a key series this upcoming weekend. With things getting started on Friday night in the Pacific Northwest, T-Mobile Park is going to be packed, as the team already announced it’s going to be a sellout. That is only going to make things even more interesting for all of the fans to enjoy. The Astros will be motivated to come away with a strong win throughout the weekend to remind Seattle of who owns the AL West.
If the Astros can record some strong wins, it’s going to send a message to the rest of the league too. The Yankees know just how good the Astros can be. Everyone is dreaming of these two teams playing in the ALCS, as it’d surely be must-see television. Only time will tell if that series ends up going down or not, but it truly would be remarkable to see.
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? pic.twitter.com/imDnw26T9X
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 21, 2022
Mattress Mack still can’t make his bets in Texas
With all of this said, no one has forgotten that Mattress Mack still can’t make his bets in Texas. This has been a topic of conversation before, as McIngvale had to travel out of state to get his previous World Series bets on the Astros. Right now, no one knows when sports betting in Texas is going to be made legal. There’s worry that it’s going to potentially be delayed until 2024, though some people think 2023 may be the year it gets done.
Plenty of people want it to go down, including pro team owners like Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban and others. Politicians like Beto O’Rourke have also come out in support of things as well. The unfortunate news here is that people are still going to have to wait a little longer, while other states continue to take positive steps. We’ll see if Texas can flip the script in the coming months, but there’s not too much optimism there. McIngvale probably doesn’t like it, but that’s just how things are.
