Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza 10/11/2016

by Doc's Sports - 10/11/2016

A new season of hockey in the NHL gets underway this Wednesday night, and in this week's discussion with Doc's Sports' expert handicapper Raphael Esparza we will get his early thoughts on which two teams he has facing off against one another for the 2017 Stanley Cup title.

Raphael rose through the ranks to become one of the top sports handicappers in the nation during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. At one point in this career, the former Vegas Sports Informer was the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria until his retirement in 2013. These days he continues to split 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 tally was pretty much even between the underdogs and favorites in this past week's betting action in the NFL, but who came out on top at the betting window; the public or the Las Vegas books?

RE: All-in-all, I would have to give the bettors the slight win last week after the books posted clear gains in each of the first four weeks of the NFL season. The public cleaned up on the early games last Sunday with quite a bit of action on New England and Minnesota, but it gave some of those gains back later in the day with teams such as Dallas and Atlanta winning as underdogs.

Doc's Sports: Following an unexpected Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay, the Atlanta Falcons have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL both on the field and against the spread over the past four weeks. After beating the Broncos in Denver last week, they have another tough test on the road this Sunday in Seattle. Do you think the Falcons can pull off another big upset?

RE: I am not discounting what Atlanta has accomplished so far, but last week's win was more about Denver's issues on offense behind a rookie quarterback. Now if the Falcons go on the road this week and beat Seattle straight up then we have something to talk about.

Doc's Sports : The big game in the Big Ten this week sends No. 2 Ohio State on the road to face No. 8 Wisconsin in what could be a preview of this season's conference title game. The Badgers could not get a win on the road against Michigan two weeks ago as double-digit underdogs, but can they get one at home this Saturday against the Buckeyes?

RE: I was not overly impressed with Ohio State's effort last week against Indiana, but the Buckeyes may have gotten caught looking ahead to this week's road trip. If the Badgers can play to their top form on both sides of the ball, they have a chance to win this game outright. The more probable outcome will be a Wisconsin cover against a generous 10-point plus spread.

Doc's Sports: The new NHL season gets underway this week and as expected the Pittsburgh Penguins are once again favored to win the Eastern Conference following last season's Stanley Cup run, while the Chicago Blackhawks are favored to win out West. Would this be your matchup in this season's NHL Finals right now?

RE : I was kind of surprised that you can still get plus money on Pittsburgh winning the Metro Division since I can definitely see the Penguins as the top team in the East again. Chicago could actually take a slight step backwards in light of some of the talent it lost this offseason. I am looking to either Los Angeles or Anaheim out of the Pacific Division to step up and win the West this year.

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 .

Pick:	CHICAGO BEARS +3
Start:	November 24, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

Analysis:

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #256 Chicago Bears +3 over Minnesota Vikings (1p.m., Sunday, November 24 FOX) We used the Bears as a free play winner last Sunday and easily covered the spread and should have been an underdog outright winner. Now we will ride them for a second straight week against another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-2 on the season, yet are only around a field goal favorite. I still do not trust Sam Donald to win consistently over the course of a 17 game regular season. Minnesota is not as good as their 8-2 record would indicate and playing outdoors in Chicago on Sunday will cause issues for them on both sides of the ball. Chicago has been hit or miss this season, but they will be up to play another divisional rival and we expect them to take this down to the wire as well. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend Card featuring top plays in college and NFL football. Read More Read Less

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