Paul The Octopus Spain Prediction Doesn’t Sway Gamblers
Paul the Octopus may be perfect with his predictions for this year's World Cup, but the sports bettors in general are not buying the sea soothsayer's selection when it comes to Spain winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday.
"Spain is getting just 58 percent of the betting action in this one," points out Carrie Stroup, Senior Reporter for the Gambling911.com website. "We have seen favorites getting in the range of 80 to 95 percent of the betting action in some World Cup games leading up to this point."
Until now, Paul has only selected games that featured Germany. He correctly predicted Germany's losses to both Serbia and Spain during this year's World Cup.
"I think it was that Serbia pick that made folks around the globe start to take notice of Paul the Octopus," says Stroup. "Nobody saw that one coming and more than 90 percent of the bets were coming in on Germany."
During a divination, the octopus is presented with two boxes. Each contains food, and is marked with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match, among which he is said to choose his predicted winner. The octopus is reported to have chosen the box with the flag of the winning team in several of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches, and in each of their first six matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On July 9, when presented with a box with a Spanish flag attached to it and another with the Netherlands flag, he ate the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag. That act was interpreted as a prediction that Spain will win the World Cup final on July 11.
Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
