His predecessor, Paul the Octopus, successfully predicted eight out of eight World Cup matches over the summer, and the new invertebrate, also named Paul, made his debut Wednesday.
The original Paul made his selections by choosing food from one of two boxes. Each box displayed the flags of the two countries or two teams who were playing, and Paul chose correctly 12 out of 14 times throughout his career. Unfortunately, the mini-Nostradamus died of natural causes in late October.
Now, the new Paul has a chance to create his own legacy and has Vegas oddsmakers nervous. His keepers haven’t said if the critter will make predictions anytime soon, as the original Paul died before the two could meet to share tips.
Octopuses only live about 2 years on average, so Paul probably won’t have a chance to call the 2014 World Cup — but maybe he has his own specialty.
All of this begs the question: How did Paul beat the odds? Octopuses have three hearts, so maybe that creates some sort of sixth sense. Or perhaps he just picks the flag he likes best. My mom always wins the family pool for the NFL playoffs by picking the team with the best jerseys, so maybe moms and octopuses share an intuitive nature.
Check out the video of the new Paul exploring his new environment.
