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


by Doc's Sports - 7/10/2018

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The 2018 World Cup is down to its final four teams and this upcoming weekend of MLB betting action marks the end of the first half of the regular season. Add in some football north of the border and an early look at the upcoming season in the NFL and there are plenty of sports betting topics to cover in this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza.

 

Once referred to as the Vegas Sports Informer during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry, Raphael also earned his reputation as one of the best sports handicappers in the nation. At the peak of his sportsbook career, he held the prestigious position as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria until 2013. At that time, he decided to focus all of his efforts on running a 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: Back in mid-June right before the 2018 World Cup got underway, you pegged England as your team to watch in one of our weekly discussions. It will now face Croatia on Wednesday as the favorite to earn a spot in the championship match on Sunday. Are you still touting England to win the 2018 World Cup as a second-favorite to France?

 

RE: I definitely like England to advance to the championship on Sunday with a victory against a Croatia team that could be running out of steam given its tougher road to the semifinals. I would still lean towards France in a match against England as the better all around team.

 

Doc's Sports: All three MLB division races in the National League remain tight heading into next week's All-Star break. Using your second-half crystal ball, which three teams do you have emerging as division title winners?

 

RE: I would still go chalk with Washington in the NL East, Chicago in the NL Central and Los Angeles in the NL West as preseason favorites to win their division. Philadelphia could make things interesting in the East if it gets some additional pitching and I would not count out Arizona in the West if it makes some moves ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

 

Doc's Sports: You are off to a perfect 4-0 start in the CFL when it comes to your free weekly pick for Doc's. Heading into Week 5, Calgary is once again the team to beat in the West Division at 3-0 both straight-up and against the spread. Who would be your top betting team in the jumbled East right now?

 

RE: Ottawa faces a huge test at home this Thursday against Calgary as a three-point underdog after losing to the Stampeders in Week 3 both straight-up and against as a 7.5-point underdog on the road. Hamilton is still a team to watch at 2-2 SU and ATS after playing its first four games against the West Division.

 

Doc's Sports: We know that it is still too early to seriously start taking about football in the NFL. However, with training camps opening up in a couple of weeks is there anything that you are doing right now to prepare for the new season?

 

RE: At this point of the NFL offseason, my main goal is to stay current with what is going on throughout the league. I will normally wait until the first week of the preseason before I start any serious handicapping activity.

 

Doc's Sports: We have already seen UK sportsbooks such as William Hill, Bet365 and Paddy Power partner with race tracks and casinos in New Jersey to help run their mobile sports betting platforms. Do you see any of the big offshore books such as MyBookie and BetOnline getting involved in the emerging US market?

 

RE: I think that eventually you will see books such as BetOnline and 5Dimes explore the US market with strategic partnerships for online sports betting. However, right now there are far more questions than answers in states moving forward with actual land-based sportsbooks. If you start to see some bigger states such as Texas or California move towards legal sports betting, this could trigger some deals with the offshore books.

 

 

 

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