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

by Doc's Sports - 1/26/2016

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The Super Bowl is the biggest single-day betting event of the year. And even though it is still almost two weeks away, we will get Doc's Sports' expert handicapper Raphael Esparza to weigh in with some of his early observations in this season's matchup.

Raphael honed his skills 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, while also being known as the Vegas Sports Informer in betting circles around town. 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 AFC Championship resulted in a stunning upset that stayed "under" the total, while the NFC title game was a one-way romp by the favorite that went way "over" the closing total line. What was the net result for the Las Vegas sportsbooks in light of these varied results?

RE: The sportsbooks in town cleaned up in the AFC Championship with all the money going towards New England on both the spread and the moneyline. There was some solid two-way action in the NFC Championship, but the books did lose a bit of money on the total line. The net effect was another winning week in the NFL for Las Vegas.

Doc's Sports: Starting with the current pointspread for the Super Bowl that has Carolina favored by 4.5 to five points with the majority of the sportsbooks in town, where do see the best value in this betting line?

RE: The opening betting line for Super Bowl 50 was actually released sometime in the fourth quarter of last Sunday night's NFC title game, and I immediately jumped all over Carolina at -3.5 points. If for some reason it continues to rise above five points between now and kickoff, I would be tempted to play the middle ground with a small bet on Denver, but for now I am pretty set on the Panthers covering the current spread.

Doc's Sports : Turning to the total for this game, it has gone over in seven of the Panthers' last nine games and it has stayed under in five of Denver's last seven outings. In your opinion, where does the value lie for making a total line bet?

RE: Picking the total in this game relates directly to which team you have winning this game. Going with Carolina would push me in the direction of the over given the way it has won its last few games. If you believe that Denver will win, then you would have to lean towards the under with the Broncos' defense once again getting the job done.

Doc's Sports : Last week you told Doc's readers just how impressed you were with the Big 12 this season in men's college basketball. A quick glance at the current USA Today Coaches Poll has three teams from the Big East in the Top 10 (Villanova, Xavier and Providence). What are your thoughts about this conference given that it may be thought of as a borderline Mid-Major in many bettors' minds?

RE: I have always liked the reformulated Big East, especially come NCAA Tournament time as far as upset specials. Tuesday night's Xavier at Providence game is a huge opportunity for one of these teams to take a big step forward. I also like the overall depth of this conference with teams such as Georgetown and Creighton also playing well.

Doc's Sports: The NHL regular season heads into this weekend's All-Star break with the Washington Capitals in the East and the Chicago Blackhawks in the West firmly in place as the top two teams in the league. Are they destined to meet in this year's Stanley Cup Finals, or is there another team (or teams) that could make a serious run at winning the Cup?

RE : I would tend to agree that Chicago should make to the NHL Finals out of the West, but you still have to keep an eye on Los Angeles and even Dallas. The Capitals have the best record in the East, but given their past track record in the playoffs they are far from being a lock to win that conference. Both teams from New York and Pittsburgh are still capable of beating them in a seven-game 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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