Paul the Octopus would have landed over £9000 with a £10 bet

If you had followed Paul the Octopus’s advice from the beginning of the World Cup and backed his predictions (picking the correct ’90 minute’ or ‘To lift the trophy’ markets) with a £10 accumulator bet, a cheque of £9283.55 would now be swimming its way to you.

Paul prophesised the correct results for all of Germany’s seven matches at the tournament, as well as the final between Spain and Holland, meaning the cephalopod got it spot on eight times out of eight.

The eightfold accumulator would have first gained a modest profit of £4 following a £10 stake on Germany (6/1 to win Euro 2012) to beat Australia at odds of 2/5.

That £14 would have rocketed to £84 after Serbia’s shock 5/1 win over Joachim Low’s side, and been bumped up a little further to £126 by the Germans’ 1-0 victory over Ghana, priced at 1/2. Serbia are 40/1 to win Euro 2012.

They were outsiders to beat England (8/1 to win Euro 2012) and Argentina in the round-of-16 and quarter-finals – ridiculous with hindsight – meaning odds of 2/1 and 9/4 were offered on 90-minute victories respectively.

Those two correct predictions would have sent the money-total skywards to £1228.50, before a Spain win in the semis, at 13/8, would have led to a £3224.81 prize fund.

Germany were 4/6 to beat Uruguay in normal time, meaning a running total of £5374.69, which would have ended up at the grand amount of £9283.55 after Spain’s World Cup win, which was priced at 8/11 by any means.

Of course, for the final you’d have had to adjust your betting strategy slightly – a bet on Spain to win in 90 minutes would have seen your dream in tatters, leaving you wondering why you ever chose to take financial advice from a sea creature.

The new world champions are 4/1 favourites to retain their 2008 European crown, while their final opponent’s Holland are 7/1 third-favourites.

After his successful run Paul the Octopus is now officially retiring from the oracle business, according to the aquarium in Germany where he lives.

As this retrospective look at his predictions shows, it may be worth trying to convince the eight-legged soothsayer out of the old folks home in time for Euro 2012 tips – it could net you a fortune.

Italy are 9/1 and Portugal 10/1 to win Euro 2012, but who will it be? Give Psychic Paul a call. See the full Euro 2012 betting market.