Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza 1/10/2017

by Doc's Sports - 1/10/2017

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger

The upcoming Divisional Round of this season's NFL playoffs features four intriguing matchups for sports bettors between the eight best teams in the league. In this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza , we will have him weigh in with his thoughts on the best way to bet each of this Sunday's NFL playoff games .

Once known as the Vegas Sports Informer during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry, Raphael was able to rise through the ranks to become one of the top sports handicappers in the nation. At one point in his sportsbook 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. 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: We probably just witnessed one of the greatest college football national title games of all time with Clemson's dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to deny Alabama another championship. From a betting standpoint, where did the bulk of the money in this matchup end up when it came to wagering on the spread and the total line?

RE: A pretty big influx of money came in late on Clemson to drive the spread down to six. The sportsbooks also got hammered on this game with quite a bit of money bet all week long on the "over". In many cases this was in the form of a parlay play with the Tigers. The only saving grace in the outcome for the books was the amount of money they did take in with Alabama not winning the title on the futures odds.

Doc's Sports: Going back to last weekend's Wild-Card Round in the NFL Playoffs, the home favorites easily covered against the spread in all four contests. Who were the biggest winners with these results; the bettors or the books?

RE: The betting public went heavy on both Seattle and Pittsburgh to bang the books in the opening round of the NFL playoffs. The only thing that kept things from turning into a major loss last weekend was some heavy money on the New York Giants in Sunday's late game against Green Bay.

Doc's Sports : Sunday's NFL action in the Divisional Round gets underway with Pittsburgh going on the road as a slight underdog against the Kansas City Chiefs. If you were betting on this game, which is the best way to go?

RE: I would have some genuine concern with Ben Roethlisberger's ankle injury even though he is currently listed as probable. This would be a wait-and-see game for me given Big Ben's current condition, but if he is 100 percent on Sunday I would probably lean towards the Steelers on the road. There is just too much firepower on Pittsburgh's offense for the Chiefs to keep pace on the scoreboard.

Doc's Sports : Later on Sunday, Aaron Rodgers and the red-hot Green Bay Packers head into Dallas as 4.5-point road underdogs against the Cowboys. Dallas was the top team in the NFC all season long at 13-3, so does it make sense to go against the Packers in this matchup even with Rodgers playing his best ball of the year?

RE: I expect most of the money to still go towards Dallas and the over in this game. The biggest thing that surprised me about the Cowboys this season was their vastly-improved play on defense. That being said, I am leaning towards the over in this game with both offenses being successful at moving the ball down the field and scoring points.

Doc's Sports: Last weekend you had James Madison on your betting radar against Youngstown State in the Division IAA football title game, and the Dukes came through as your "best bet" in a 28-14 victory as eight-point favorites. What do you have on this week's radar as one of your top plays?

RE : This week I will be turning my attention to Sunday night's UFC Fight Night 103. There are some really good matchups on the card featuring a few up-and-coming MMA fighters. One of my top plays would be the under on 2.5 rounds in the featured bout between Yair Rodriguez as a heavy -460 favorite against BJ Penn as a +360 underdog. I just cannot see this match lasting more than two rounds.

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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