| Species | Octopus vulgaris |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Born | 2008 England |
| Occupation | Oracle |
| Known for | Making predictions forGermany national football team matches |
Paul the Octopus or Paul Oktopus is a two-year-old common octopus with a history of correctly predicting the results of major German international football matches,especially in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This total rate of 11 out of 12 games correct constitutes a significant deviation from what flipping a coin would suggest, using a Binomial test. A fair coin would guess at least 11 out of 12 games correctly only 1 time in 315.
Paul was hatched at the Sea Life Park in Weymouth, England but currently resides at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. Before German international football matches, Paul is presented with food in two identical containers; one container is marked with the flag of Germany and the other is marked with the flag of Germany’s opponent. In each instance, Paul’s choice of food is interpreted as his predicted victor. Paul is reported to have correctly chosen the winner in five of Germany’s six UEFA Euro 2008matches, predicting that Germany would win every match except a loss to Croatia, but incorrectly predicting Germany’s victory over Spain in the final in 2008. He correctly chose the winner in each of Germany’s six matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including Germany’s loss to Serbia during the group phase, and a loss to Spain in semifinals.
An agency is taking bets on whether Paul the Octopus will correctly pick the winner of of the FIFA World Cup final – if, in fact, he does make a pick.
European based Williamhill.com is offering odds of even money that Paul will tip the winner.
But so far, the “oracle octopus” has only picked winners for games that Germany is playing in and it is unknown if he will pick a winner for Monday morning’s Spain v Netherlands final.
William Hill’s spokesman Tony Kenny said: “Punters are keen to back Paul’s tips and we’re giving them a chance to bet that he’ll pick the winner before he even makes his selection.”
Paul the Octopus has become an internet phenomenon for his uncanny ability to pick winners. He has accurately picked the winner of every game Germany has played in the FIFA World Cup.
Paul makes his choice by picking between two containers of food, each bearing the flag of the two teams playing.
It is also unknown if Paul will bet on the third place play-off between Germany and Uruguay.
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