Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza 12/8/2015

by Doc's Sports - 12/8/2015

New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady

The field is set for this season's College Football Playoff, and this week we will see if the oddsmakers got it right by favoring Alabama and Oklahoma to meet in the CFP Championship Game on Jan. 11 when we sit down with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza.

The former Vegas Sports Informer cut his teeth as an expert handicapper during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. At one point in this career, Raphael held the prestigious position as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria until his retirement in 2013. Since then, he has been splitting his time between Las Vegas and the Big Easy in New Orleans running a successful and diverse sports investment service. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: The favorites went crazy in the NFL in Week 13, which had to tip things in the betting public's overall favor, but how much did straight up upsets of Green Bay on Thursday and New England on Sunday equal out some of the sportsbook's losses?

RE: The one thing that saved the books this past Sunday was the rodeo being in town. This is traditionally not a big sports betting crowd, so the overall NFL action in Las Vegas remained pretty slow. Some of the books actually posted a small gain with the Packers and Patriots' losses wiping out a sizable chunk of the betting public's gain in many of the other games.

Doc's Sports: The Carolina Panthers failed to cover against New Orleans this past Sunday, but they keep finding ways to win their games SU. With two games against Atlanta along with a road game against the New York Giants and a home game against Tampa Bay, how tempted would you be to jump on any favorable betting odds that they run the table in the regular season?

RE: If this was a high-profile team like Green Bay or New England, this current winning streak would dominate the airwaves night and day. However, since it is still just Carolina, the story of a possible 16-0 run has not been front-page news. I personally think this lack of respect only adds value to the current betting odds that the Panthers do stay undefeated through the regular season, and I would definitely put some action on that wager.

Doc's Sports :The four-team field is set for this year's College Football Playoff with both Alabama and Oklahoma favored to meet in the CFP Championship Game. Do you have these games going chalk as expected with the Tide and the Sooners advancing to the national title game?

RE: I can see why both of these teams are favored, but the gap between Oklahoma and Clemson is not that wide, and Alabama did get caught looking past Ohio State in last season's College Football Playoff. I would be willing to make a small bet that one of the two underdogs pulls off an upset.

Doc's Sports : Looking at 22-0 Golden State's schedule over the next few weeks starting with an interesting road game against Indiana this Tuesday night, would you be willing to bet that they can continue this winning streak all the way to a Christmas Day showdown against the Cleveland Cavaliers?

RE: I would actually go against the Warriors as six-point favorites in tonight's Pacers' game given that this will be a tough matchup on the road for Golden State. However, keep in mind that I have been wrong about this team a few times this season. If Golden State does get past Indiana, then I could see the Warriors winning out until that Christmas Day showdown.

Doc's Sports: Turning to the NHL through the first third of the regular season, can you give us one solid team to go with right now and maybe one other team that you would probably think about going against over the next week or so?

RE : When it comes to betting on the NHL, I normally look for teams to go against as opposed to trying to find a hot team to ride. Right now the St. Louis Blues would fit the bill with just two wins in their last seven games, including a pair of recent losses at home as heavy favorites. The trick is to find the teams with a starting goalie that is struggling to stop the puck.

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 .

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 3:30 PM
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