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


by Doc's Sports - 8/15/2017

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

One of the biggest Pay Per View sports betting events in recent memory is set to take place on Saturday, Aug. 26, with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. squaring off against UFC great Conor McGregor in a 12-round boxing match in Las Vegas. To get an early jump on all the various betting props surrounding this epic bout, we will check in with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza to get his thoughts on the best way to bet on this fight.

During a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry where Raphael climbed the ranks to become the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria, he also worked his way to the top of the list as one of the top sports handicappers in the nation. He retired from the sportsbook industry back in 2013, but the former Vegas Sports Informer remains busy running a successful and diverse sports investment service from his home base in Las Vegas and 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: Avid sports bettors know that the NFL Preseason is just a tease compared to betting on the games when they count for real in the standings. However, did you have any takeaways from a betting standpoint from the results in Week 1 of this year's preseason?

RE: Last week I talked about leaning towards the "under" in the first two weeks of the NFL Preseason, and 10 of the 16 games did in fact stay under the closing line in Week 1. The Jets and Titans accounted for a grand total of 10 points, which was no big surprise, but the Cowboys and the Rams only putting up a combined 23 points was actually lower than expected. The one exception was Seattle taking the total over on its own with 48 points against the Los Angeles Chargers. Even the Seahawks' third-team players appeared to be in regular-season form.

Doc's Sports: The new college football season gets underway in less than two weeks, and we all know what a big Pac-12 and Mountain West fan you are. What is your early take on a Pac-12/MWC matchup on Saturday, Aug. 26, between the Oregon State Beavers as 3.5-point road underdogs against the Colorado State Rams to kick things off in both of these conferences?

RE: I have been touting Colorado State as my favorite to win the MWC this season even though the Rams are the third-best team on most college football futures lists behind San Diego State and favored Boise State. Oregon State is well down the list in the Pac-12, but this still a matchup between a major program going against a mid-major, so there is quite a bit riding on this game for both teams.

Doc's Sports: Once again this year you have been releasing a free weekly CFL pick for Doc's. In light of four head-to-head division battles on the slate in Week 9, can you give us a sneak preview of which game you are looking at for this week's free pick?

RE: The game that I am most interested in is a rematch between Montreal and Toronto after the Alouettes rolled over the Argonauts 21-9 as eight-point home favorites in the opener of this home-and-home series last weekend.

However, Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray's playing status remains up in the air, so this game remains ' off the board' . This has me looking at British Columbia plus 4.5 points at home in a West Division grudge match against Calgary.

Doc's Sports : The Mayweather vs. McGregor bout on Aug. 26 in your own backyard is being touted as "The Money Fight". Can you give us one or two early prop bets that you are looking at to make some money on this fight?

RE: I am looking hard at the prop bet odds for "over" nine rounds. I do not see an early KO by either fighter and I am counting on fatigue being a factor in the later rounds, especially for McGregor.

Doc's Sports: We have been wrapping up these discussions will a general question covering anything else that might be on your current betting radar. What do you have for our readers this week?

RE : The biggest betting event on my plate is the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar this Saturday as a lead in race for this year's Breeders' Classic at that same track in early November. The start of the Little League World Series this Thursday is also high on the list as well as free boxing on ESPN this Saturday night.

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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