Paul the Octopus, Prophet for Online Sports Betting, Died in German Aquarium

Posted: October 27, 2010

Updated: October 4, 2017

German gambling laws do little to prevent people from gambling. In fact, they are so liberal that until recently, an octopus called Paul had been wagering its lunch against his ability to pick the winners.

German gambling laws do little to prevent people from gambling. In fact, they are so liberal that until recently, an octopus called Paul had been wagering its lunch against his ability to pick the winners.

There were those who knew Paul and loved him. There were those who hated him. Perhaps more than a few pondered his taste after being grilled over an open flame and being served beside ouzo and wine.

Paul was an octopus with an unusual talent. For a summer time he had been correctly fingering the winners of football games, including matches involving Serbia, Germany, Spain, and the Netherland.

In order to elicit predictions from Paul, his keeper would mark two glass boxes with flags from each competing nation. Paul was then presented with both boxes, which would each also contain food. Whichever Box Paul selected was taken as the prediction. While Paul wasn’t always correct, online sportsbooks in Germany celebrated his correct calls for each of the seven matches involving the nation.

Mathematicians calculate that his odds for making all of those predictions were 256 to 1, against. Statisticians, however, warned that people need to be careful what they read into the numbers, as these are the exact same odds for flipping a coin.

Regardless of these philistines, not everyone was happy with Paul’s predictions. Many of those who conducted Online gambling against his forecasts were threatening to have him beside garlic sauce. Like many celebrities, Paul needed more security to protect his home at the German Oberhausen Sea Life Centre.

In spite of religious and political leaders calling variously for his protection or his demise, Paul seems to have succumbed to old, growing tired and sluggish before being found at the bottom of his tank. Paul was only 2 years and ten months, but the normal lifespan for his species is only about three years.

Paul will be receiving a monument at the Sea Life Centre and there is talk of naming a street after him.