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Mattress Mack is sleeping in a tower excessive above his Houston furnishings retailer each night time till he sells 10,000 mattresses.
Even on the night of June 24, when he’ll be honored as “Particular person of the Yr” at Caesars Palace by Jockeys and Denims, a volunteer group that has raised greater than $2.6 million for the Completely Disabled Jockeys Fund.
“I’ll come to Vegas for that, then I’ll fly again and I’ll sleep a part of the night time right here,” Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale mentioned Friday.
McIngvale, who received a file $72.6 million in wagers on the Astros final 12 months once they received the World Collection, has slept within the tower eight straight nights.
“I sleep there all night time, then come down and work all day. At 10 o’clock at night time, I climb again up 100 ft on this ladder going straight up,” the 72-year-old mentioned. “An offshore e-book put up an over and underneath on what number of days I’ll be up there. I must get a few of these Vegas books to place up a line on it.”
He mentioned the full is 100 days.
“I’m not going to guess on myself, but when it was me, I’m taking the over as a result of I’m staying up there till I promote these mattresses,” he mentioned. “After all, if the Astros get scorching, we will promote them in a rush.”
McIngvale has $1.9 million in wagers to win $11.4 million driving on the Astros to win the World Collection. The bets are the most recent in a collection of wagers to scale back danger on furnishings promotions. On this case, prospects who purchase $5,000 or extra of furnishings will get double their a refund if Houston repeats as champs.
McIngvale endured a tough night time Thursday within the 30 square-foot open-air area on the prime of the tower.
“It’s acquired a roof over it, however the sides are open. I put a tent in there with a Tempur-Pedic mattress and adjustable base contained in the tent,” he mentioned. “Final night time, I used to be asleep when this big rain storm got here up surprising. The wind was blowing 60 miles per hour and the rain was coming in at 10.
“I assumed it was going to blow me off the roof.”
When he sells the ten,000 mattresses, he mentioned he’ll donate $1 million to Houston’s Camp Hope, which helps fight veterans affected by post-traumatic stress dysfunction.
A famous philanthropist, McIngvale additionally has been a longtime supporter of the PDJF, which pays a month-to-month stipend of $1,000 to 60 jockeys who suffered career-ending accidents.
“I’m an enormous fan of all these jockeys and the tremendously troublesome and harmful job they do. And I’m an enormous advocate for taking higher care of those jockeys with workman’s comp and medical health insurance for the traumatic accidents they endure when these horses go down at 40 miles per hour,” he mentioned. “Jockeys danger their lives every single day they race. I feel they’re racing’s superstars.”
The occasion at Caesars Palace will function 16 Corridor of Fame riders, together with jockey Edgar Prado, who rode McIngvale’s horse, Runhappy, to victory within the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Dash.
McIngvale, who has misplaced $7 million in bets on the Kentucky Derby the final three years, owns 45 thoroughbreds.
“I grew to become a millionaire within the horse enterprise. The one downside is I began out as a billionaire,” he mentioned jokingly.
Tickets for the fundraiser can be found at 855-234-7469 or at ticketmaster.com. Single tickets are $125, VIP tickets are $250 and nine-person tables are $1,800 and seated with a Corridor of Fame jockey.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Observe @tdewey33 on Twitter.
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