Gallery Furniture's Mattress Mack could be shelling out the big bucks this weekend

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It's possible that this weekend the Houston Astros will be making Gallery Furniture owner Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale one of the most-beloved men in the city when he has to make good on the promotion he offered up earlier this baseball season.

Back in April just as the regular season began, Gallery Furniture announced that the first 500 customers who purchased $6,300 worth of goods or more from the store and have it delivered within a week could get those items free if the Astros won over 63 games by the end of the 162-game regular season. He picked 63 games because he's 63 years old this year.

Sixty-three wins would also mean the Astros avoided losing 100 games for the fourth season in a row.

The Astros begin a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics tonight at Minute Maid Park. The Astros have had mixed luck with the A's so far this season.

"It's been great and it has kept our customers watching the Astros all season so that's a plus," said McIngvale on Friday. He plans on throwing a party in the first or second Sunday in October for the customers who bit the bullet on the team's future. That's when they will get their refunds for their purchases. He'd like to get some players to visit the bash too, since they played a big part.

He says that customers bought nearly $4 million in furniture in the days after he announced the promotion and reached the 500-customer limit in just four days.

Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, the owner of the Gallery Furniture store chain bet customers $4 million worth of merchandise that the Astros would win fewer than 63 games this season. The team could win their 63rd game this weekend against the Oakland Athletics.



Check out the Astros' game-by-game highlights from 2014 ... less Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, the owner of the Gallery Furniture store chain bet customers $4 million worth of merchandise that the Astros would win fewer than 63 games this season. The team could win their ... more Photo: Houston Chronicle Composite Photo: Houston Chronicle Composite Image 1 of / 245 Caption Close Gallery Furniture's Mattress Mack could be shelling out the big bucks this weekend 1 / 245 Back to Gallery

Besides watching the team rack up wins and slowly seeing his bet gain on him in the rearview mirror, the season has been eventful for McIngvale too.

"Watching as a fan, Jose Altuve just keeps getting better and better and I love seeing Chris Carter hit homeruns," he says.

There is nothing in the cards for McIngvale when it comes to the upcoming Houston Texans or Houston Rockets seasons, unless he feels daring later in the year. He's thinking about taking a break from gambles like this one and last season's NFL giveaways.

McIngvale previously made national headlines after he promised that if the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl he would provide full refunds to customers who purchased more than $6,000 in furniture during the two weeks leading up to the big game. That stunt cost him over $7 million. A previous promotion offering free furniture to 100 customers who correctly guessed the winners of both the AFC and NFC championship games cost him nearly a million dollars.

Knowing his luck so far, he thinks he should take a step back for now.

"My wife might divorce me if I do another one of these things," he laughs.