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

by Doc's Sports - 11/8/2016

LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers

A new season in the NBA is underway, and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers are the only undefeated team in the league heading into Tuesday night's action. In this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza, we will get his take on the early results from a betting standpoint.

Raphael worked his way up the ranks of the Las Vegas sportsbook industry all the way to Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria while also honing his craft as one of the nation's top sports handicappers. He retired from the sportsbook industry in 2013 to focus all of his energy on running a very successful and diverse sports investment service from his home base in Las Vegas as well as from the Big Easy in New Orleans. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: The betting public got the best of the Las Vegas sportsbooks in Week 8 of the NFL season on the strength of another New England and Dallas victory against the spread. The Patriots had a bye last week, while the Cowboys rolled over Cleveland to cover for the seventh-straight game. So what were the overall betting results in town for last week's NFL games?

RE: The Las Vegas books lost for the second week in a row on the strength of the Cowboys' romp. They also got hurt by New Orleans' rout of San Francisco as well as the "over" on the total line in San Diego's win against Tennessee. Green Bay's loss was one of the few games in the book's favor in Week 9.

Doc's Sports: Speaking of New England and Dallas with a combined record of 14-1-1 ATS, is there any reason to go against either team this week with the Patriots favored by a touchdown at home against Seattle and the Cowboys going on the road as slight underdogs against Pittsburgh?

RE: I would not go against New England at home this week coming off a bye, but Pittsburgh could be a tough test for Dallas on the road. I fully expect a much better effort from Ben Roethlisberger after a very rusty performance last week in Baltimore, and I still think that the Steelers are better than their 4-4 record might suggest.

Doc's Sports : The race to the College Football Playoff continues with Alabama and Clemson on a potential collision course for a rematch in the national title game. Would these two teams be your top bet to make it all the way to this season's championship game in January?

RE: It would not surprise me to see these two teams square off again in this season's title game. Michigan is still a wildcard for the No. 2 spot in the final College Football Playoff rankings if it can get past Ohio State later this month, and I like Washington's chances to be the fourth team out of the Pac-12, but Alabama and Clemson are once again the top two teams overall.

Doc's Sports : It is no real surprise that the Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a fast start as the defending world champs, but in your opinion what has been the biggest surprise in the early going of the new NBA season?

RE: My biggest surprise has been the solid play of the Los Angeles Lakers at 4-3 heading into Tuesday's night's home game against Dallas. I was not sure what to expect with Kobe Bryant gone, but head coach Luke Walton has Los Angeles playing as a team, which was never the case with Kobe still in the lineup. The Lakers have also been one of the best betting team so far in the NBA at 6-1 against the spread.

Doc's Sports: Earlier this week you covered a number of different props that were released in conjunction for Tuesday's big Presidential election. As the votes start coming in, can you give us one bold prediction for the actual results?

RE : One bold prediction would be whichever candidate wins Florida win the election. The betting odds to win that state favored Hillary Clinton at -220, with the betting line on Donald Trump listed at +180. The tightest race should be in North Carolina, which has basically closed as a "pick" for either side.

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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