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


by Docsports.com - 9/10/2019

Chicago Bears wide receiver Taylor Gabriel

Doc's Sports Service continues to raise the bar for avid sports bettors with a wide array of weekly and monthly selection packages. Raphael Esparza is a part of the winning team at Doc's as one of the top expert handicappers in the nation. He cut his teeth during a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. At the height of that career, he held the prestigious title as Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Resorts' Aria.

Since 2013, Esparza has been running a successful sports investment business from his home base in Las Vegas as well as from the Big Easy in New Orleans. Delivering big unit winners for big time games along with picks and predictions for some 'off-the-radar" betting options, he runs the gambit when it comes to his selection packages. Every Tuesday, Doc's gets the unique opportunity to pick his brain on a few of the hottest trending topics in the world of sports.

Doc's: Week 1 of the new NFL season is in the books, and now it is time to cover a few of the biggest overreactions by the media and sports betting industry. What do you have for us in this department?

RE: All the bandwagon money on Chicago and Cleveland was the biggest overreaction before the season got underway. For the most part, all the top teams played to expectations with solid wins. Writing off Pittsburgh is probably premature given just how good New England looked on Sunday night.

Doc's: When it came to betting on the first round of NFL games, what were a few of the sportsbooks' biggest winners and losers on the board?

RE: The two biggest winners for the books had to be Tennessee and Oakland. All the money with quite a few parlay bets were on Cleveland on Sunday, and most of the money was on Denver against the Raiders late Monday night.

The books definitely took a beating on Baltimore's beatdown of Miami. Money has been coming in on the Ravens all summer long to drive the closing line up to seven points.

Doc's: The college football season presses on with Week 3 of its regular-season schedule. One game that sticks out as an intriguing matchup pits Clemson on the road against Syracuse. The No. 1 Tigers are favored by four touchdowns, but this ACC matchup has been close the past two seasons. Can the Orange keep things interesting on Saturday night?

RE: I would normally agree that Syracuse is a good play as a heavy underdog against the Tigers. However, can the Orange quickly get past last week's crushing 63-20 loss to Maryland to give Clemson another tough battle this year?

Doc's: Smart bettors know that there is value to be found betting Mid Majors in college football. Can you give us one or two teams outside of the majors that you may be betting on this weekend?

RE: The two teams at the top of my list are Cincinnati and Georgia State for opposite reasons. I am interested to see how the Bearcats react to last Saturday's 42-0 loss to Ohio State as 16.5-point home favorites against Miami, Ohio this Saturday.

Georgia State is riding high with the Week 1 upset against Tennessee and last week's 48-point effort in the win against Furman. The Panthers will now face Western Michigan as 10-point road underdogs.

Doc's: Along with all the football action on the board, what other sports betting events have caught your eye this week?

RE: It's a big weekend for boxing, MMA fighting and wrestling for fans of those sports. Tyson Fury is a prohibitive -2000 for Saturday's heavyweight bout against Otto Wallin in Las Vegas. Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone is on Saturday's UFC Fight Night card in Vancouver as a +175 live dog against Justin Gaethje (-205). Sunday's Clash of Champions in the WWE should be an entertaining card as well.

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 do not even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit for any sports Esparza handicaps. Click here for $60 worth of free picks from Raphael Esparza.

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