Betting against the Astros proved to be another costly publicity stunt for the owner of a Houston furniture store.

Gallery Furniture owner Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale refunded more than $4.2 million dollars to 420 customers Sunday night, fulfilling a promise he made last spring to reimburse the first 500 customers who spent more than $6,300 at his store if the Astros won 63 games. The promotion was partly tied to McIngvale's 63rd birthday this year.

It was a decent gamble, with the Astros coming off a record-breaking bad 51-111 season. This year, however, they recorded 70 wins.

"I could have put it at 70, which would have made it much more difficult, but I wanted to give the customers a better chance to win, and that's the way it turned out," McIngvale said. "The customers are happy, we're happy."

Gallery Furniture turned the refund event into a party at its store off I-45 North on Sunday, with customers snacking on free food as they stood in two lines that stretched the length of the store. Astros executive Reid Ryan and former players Larry Dierker and José Cruz made appearances and autographed balls for customers, many of whom were decked out in Astros gear.

"You never like to put a certain win number out there, since we're in the rebuilding process, but we thought, you know what, this is a good way to get people excited about the Astros again," Ryan said.

And it seemed to work.

"It feels really good, like winning a small lottery ticket," said Kyle Nix, 34, who received a $6,500 check. "I've been an Astros fan for a long time ... it made my wife interested in baseball for the first time. She's usually not a sports fan, but she watched every game with us. She actually knew some of the players' names by the end of the season."

The Astros payday is only the latest in a string of giveaways that has ended with McIngvale turning out his pockets. In February, he reimbursed $7 million after he lost a bet with customers that the Seattle Seahawks wouldn't win the Super Bowl XLVIII. He also gave $1 million in furniture to 100 customers who guessed the outcome to the AFC and NFC championship football games.

And it might not be his last giveaway. The payouts are worth it, he said, compared to the publicity and business the giveaways bring to the furniture chain.

McIngvale pulled out a 2-inch binder, stuffed to the brim with papers, and let it fall in front of him with a loud thump. In the binder, he explained, was all the press brought to Gallery Furniture during the Super Bowl giveaway.

"I wish it had not been so costly, but it is what it is," he said with a laugh. "My wife's going to divorce me when I do the next one."