[MATTRESS MACK] I will get FREE furniture from Gallery Furniture

Uh...doesn't this mean that he's betting AGAINST the Astros?

 

Mack is a tool

 

He's giving customers a chance at a risk-free bet on the Astros. If he did it the other way, he'd be asking customers to root against the Astros.

 

and he's still betting against the Astros

 

Depends - he could easily go make a bet on the Astros in Vegas and hedge his bet entirely. Or simply insure the promotion.

Even if neither is the case, while he might be making a financial bet against the Astros, he probably benefits more if the Astros win the 63, he gets more publicity in September talking about how 500 customers got free stuff, and he probably earns 500 customers for life.

In other words, if the Astros win 63 games, he lose $3 million but gets a huge amount of goodwill that might be worth more than that.

 

And if the Astros DON'T win 63 games, he gets a bunch of people buying $6,300 worth of furniture who most likely wouldn't have done so if not for the promotion.

Plus the publicity. He get's that either way.

 

No it's a truck.

 

Yup - but he gets far more publicity if he loses the bet. If he wins the bet, there's no positive press in September with "oh, no one got free furniture after all". If he loses it, you get all the media hype all over again about how he's gave away $3 million in furniture, etc.

He comes out ahead in either scenario, so it's not really a bet for or against the Astros - it's just a well-designed marketing promo. He got smart this time limiting it to 500 customers so his costs are controlled.

 

It depends on how close the Astros are to 63 wins. If the Astros are at 62 wins with a week to go in the season....he could get a week's worth of publicity and still win the bet. If the Astros win get win 63 the day after winning 62, it will only be a days worth of publicity.

 

Very true - excellent point. As long as 63 is in the mix, the publicity will come.

 

brilliant. What is the super bowl story?

 

If I can get in the first 500 by tomorrow night, I'll be in

 

somebody needs to put matress mac out of his misery. The guy is looney. I should have gotten in on that deal.

 

Yeah, I'm sure he's just miserable.

 

This guy didn't get to where he is by making lots of bad decisions. He has already determined that this is a win-win situation for him. That's why he's not betting against the Astros. Nobody is forcing him to make this offer.

 

I have mixed feelings about him. As a fellow businessman, I respect his marketing genius and business acumen over the years. As a human, I appreciate the sports related philanthropy. I think it's a net gain for Houston, but I'm just not sure. He preys on the poor, lower-middle class, and uneducated. They push overpriced furniture and bad financing on a portion of citizenry that doesn't understand. As a fellow businessman with a large portion of lower class clients, I'm not saying that I'm above making money off of them, but I'm much less of a shark in this area then other people in my field, and always steer my clients away from complicated products intended to rip them off. So, I just don't know. He's a business genius, but he does some things that aren't great for society at large. Then again, if he doesn't do it, someone else would, and at least with Mac you get all these cool gambling chances and sports philanthropy.

 

FWIW the over/under on the Astros win total when I was in Vegas was 63.

 

There are like 6 different books in Vegas. Those lines vary depending on their setters.