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

by Doc's Sports - 12/16/2015

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton

This Friday is the national premier of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", so leave it to Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza to weigh in on this epic movie event with some top prop bet picks in a previous post on Doc's . This week we will pin him down for his top prop bet pick from that previous article.

Raphael was once known as the Vegas Sports Informer during his long and successful career in the Las Vegas Sportsbook industry that culminated with him working as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria. He retired from that position in 2013 to spend all of his time running a successful and diverse sports investment service from both Las Vegas and New Orleans. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: Most of the high-profile teams such as New England and Green Bay easily covered this past Sunday, so does that mean the betting public finally came out ahead of the Las Vegas books in Week 14 of the NFL regular season?

RE: Last Sunday was a bad day all around for the Las Vegas books. Not only did they get crushed on New England and Green Bay winning big, but they paid out on a number of tickets riding Carolina and the New York Jets as favorites. The only saving grace is that things are traditionally slow this time of the year with the holidays, so the overall loss was not that big.

Doc's Sports: From a betting standpoint, would you keep riding the red-hot 13-0 Carolina Panthers given their 8-2 record against the spread in the last 10 games, or do you back off because you think they may start resting players?

RE: I would continue to ride Carolina this week against the New York Giants since the Panthers still need to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC. After that it is anyone's guess, although I cannot see Cam Newton getting all that much playing time in the final two games given the way he has been banged around.

Doc's Sports :The opening round of college bowl games starts this Saturday with six matchups on the slate. Are there one or two games that have caught your attention as a solid bet to get things started in the right direction for the entire college bowl season?

RE: At the top of my list this Saturday would be the Las Vegas Bowl and the New Orleans Bowl since both places are near and dear to my heart. As far as my top matchup in the early part of the schedule, it would have to be Toledo against Temple in next Tuesday's Boca Raton Bowl. I am giving the edge to the Owls as slight favorites based on a slightly tougher strength of schedule.

Doc's Sports : The nonconference portion of the college basketball season draws to a close over the next week or so. Moving to your neck of the woods, are there any teams from the Pac-12 or even the Mountain West that you have getting off to a strong start right out of the gate once conference play does start up?

RE: I was high on UNLV in the Mountain West before the season started, but the MWC as a whole still needs to take that next step to start gaining some national attention as a serious conference for college hoops. I was also high on the California Golden Bears in the Pac-12, but I have now turned my attention to Oregon State and Gary Payton Jr. as my top sleeper team in this conference. I believe the Beavers can hang tough this season against the top teams in the Pac-12 as a good cover team.

Doc's Sports: The premier of the new Star Wars movie this Friday has been one of the most talked about events in the entertainment industry in quite some time. Going back to last week's prop bet article for Doc's, can you give us your highest unit play for your picks?

RE : Looking back at my prop picks, I would have to go with the +350 odds that we will not see Luke Skywalker's face in this movie as my top play. You will probably hear his voice and possibly even see his mechanical arm, but I believe they will save his actual return for one of the next films in this iconic series.

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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