Paul The Octopus World Cup Picks Net Punters Half Million

By now, Paul the Octopus has become a household name, and for good reason.  With Spain winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup (they were early 3/1 favorites coming into the tournament), Paul's World Cup predictions stand at 100 percent (including his pick that Serbia would beat Germany). 

By the time the final rolled around, punters were literally placing their bets based on Paul's predictions. 

British bookmaker William Hill made its own prediction Sunday, that Paul's picks would have yielded punters around a half million in winnings.

 "There has been a remarkable amount of interest in Paul the octopus and I would be very surprised if there were not some lucky punters celebrating after the final," Graham Sharpe, a spokesman for William Hill, told the Daily Telegraph.

The odds of all of his eight forecasts being correct, including the final, was put at 3,000-1, by bookmakers William Hill.

Paul The Octopus' fearless prediction was watched by millions around the world and was almost as big a spectacle as the Lebron James "decision" from this past week in the States. 

Paul sat for only a few minutes before grabbing a mussel from a box marked with the Spanish flag and devouring it, thus his indication that Spain would win the World Cup.

It was the first time he'd been tasked to pick a game in which Germany wasn't involved.

Paul first developed his abilities during the 2008 European Championship in which he predicted five out of six games involving Germany correctly.

The Gambling911.com website was one of the first to begin covering Paul The Octopus earlier in the competition. 

Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com