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

by Doc's Sports - 9/29/2015

B.J. Raji of the Green Bay Packers

Football in both the college ranks and the NFL continues to dominate the sports betting action at most of the Las Vegas sportsbooks. However, in this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza, we will get his take on a potential matchup in this year's MLB World Series.

Back in 2013, Raphael decided to retire from a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry that took him all the way to the prestigious position of Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria. Since then, the former Vegas Sports Informer has focused most of his attention on running one of the top sports investment services in town. The following is this week's Q&A.

Doc's Sports: Favorites and "overs" put a hurting on the Las Vegas sportsbooks this past Sunday, so how bad were the overall losses in town in Week 3 of the NFL season with Green Bay's big win as a favorite on Monday night in another game that went over the total?

RE: Anytime the favorite and the over are winners on a Sunday and/or Monday night it is going to hit the books hard. However, when it is a Top 5 betting team in Las Vegas like Green Bay, the losses are going to pile up pretty high. One thing that did surprise me about that game was some late money in town going towards Kansas City to actually drop the line at a few books right before kickoff.

Doc's Sports: Arizona appears to be the real deal in the NFC West at 3-0 after pounding San Francisco this past Sunday. Do you believe that the Cardinals have what it takes this time around to finally get past Seattle in this division race and make a run at one of the top two spots in the conference?

RE: Just like last season, the Cardinals' long-term future still hinges on the health of Carson Palmer, but this team has quite a few things going for it, including an opportunistic defense that can generate turnovers and a much-improved home-field advantage that can pay some huge dividends late in the season. If Palmer does stay healthy, I could easily see Arizona still playing well into January.

Doc's Sports : In two big games in the Pac-12 this past Saturday, both UCLA (over Arizona) and Utah (over Oregon) posted relatively easy victories on the road. Which team's road victory were you more impressed with?

RE: Not to take anything away from UCLA, but to me it appeared that Arizona lost focus in that game when its starting quarterback left the game. Utah's upset against Oregon was a total surprise as I did not think the Utes had a chance to win that game on the road. Right now Utah would have to be my team to watch in the Pac-12 after proving that it is the real deal.

Doc's Sports: Alabama at Georgia is the big showdown on this Saturday's college football slate. This game has major national playoff implications for both the Tide and the Bulldogs, so which side do you like in this one?

RE: When I first handicapped this matchup, I had Georgia penciled in as a 1.5-point home favorite, so I was kind of shocked to see the Bulldogs favored by as much as 2.5 points. It has come down a bit since then, but their chances to win on Saturday still hinge on the ability to run the ball on Alabama. This is not the dominant defense we are used to seeing from Nick Saban, so the door is definitely open for Georgia to win this game.

Doc's Sports : The MLB postseason picture is getting pretty clear with the regular season winding down. Can you give us an early pick for your 2015 World Series matchup?

RE: I have been on Toronto's bandwagon ever since the MLB trade deadline, and I would hands down put the Blue Jays in the World Series from the American League. The National League is a whole other story given the current injury situation in St. Louis. I think that the winner of the Pittsburgh vs. Chicago wild card matchup gets past the Cardinals, but you cannot rule Los Angeles out of the World Series mix. I am going with "too close to call" right now in a Pirates/Cubs vs Dodgers' matchup in the NLCS.

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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