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Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza

by Doc's Sports - 10/20/2015

American Pharoah, racehorse

This year's Breeders' Cup takes place on Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland, and while all eyes are focused on American Pharoah's expected run in the $5 Million Classic, we will tap into expert handicapper Raphael Esparza's early thoughts on a few of the 13 races on the card that have caught his early attention.

Raphael retired in 2013 as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria to wrap-up a long and very successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. He now splits his time between Las Vegas and New Orleans, running one of the most diversified sports investment services in the country. The following is this week's Q&A with the former Vegas Sports Informer.

Doc's Sports: Each week of the NFL season we talk about the winners and the losers when it comes to betting the games with the Las Vegas books. Which NFL game from Week 6 did the betting public do the most damage to the book's bottom line and which one did they lose their shirts on?

RE: You would think that Green Bay and New England failing to cover would have created the biggest take for the sportsbooks this week, but it was Pittsburgh's upset against Arizona that cleaned the bettors out followed by Carolina's upset of Seattle. The only minor loss of the week for the books in town was the New York Jets easily getting past Washington. Overall, it was probably the biggest take of the season for the Las Vegas books.

Doc's Sports: The college football season has been sailing along, so now is a good time to revisit which four teams are at the top of your list right now as far as the College Football Playoff?

RE: I would still have Ohio State at the top of the list. I do not think the Buckeyes are the top team in the nation, but until they lose they should hold on to the No. 1 spot. Next, I would go with Baylor followed by Utah and then TCU.

I have yet to be really impressed with any team from the SEC, although LSU would probably fill the void left by the loser of the Baylor vs. TCU game as the end of the season as long as it does not slip up somewhere along the way.

Doc's Sports : Temple, Houston, Toledo and Memphis have all worked their way into the national rankings as mid-major programs. Which one of the four do you see rising even further in the polls as the season wears on?

RE: I am really high on Memphis as long as it can keep winning. It already has that big SEC win on its resume against Ole Miss and it will get a shot at playing both Houston and Temple later in the season in its own conference; the AAC. If the Memphis does go on and run the table, it would be another team that would have to be part of the discussion for the College Football Playoff.

Doc's Sports: We all know what a huge horse racing fan you are, so other than this year's Classic, which of the other 12 races in the upcoming Breeders' Cup has piqued your early interest?

RE: I have just started to seriously get into handicapping this year's Breeders' Cup and a few of the horses that are on my early radar are Private Zone and Run Happy in the Sprint and Pizza Man and Big Blue Kitten in the Turf.

Click here to visit Raphael Esparza's Insider's Page at Doc's Sports for more information on his amazingly-profitable sports handicapping picks. Also, get $60 worth of Esparza's member's picks absolutely free - no obligation, no sales people - you don't even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit for any sport Esparza handicaps. Click here for $60 worth of free picks from Raphael Esparza .

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