Best websites for pre-Vegas research?

I've always done my homework before our semi-annual Vegas trips, have looked online for promos, point multipliers, gambling opportunities, coupons, etc.  Obviously most, but not all, of that has dried up over the years, especially post-COVID.  I used to have a long list of useful websites but most of them have fallen by the wayside; about all that I find useful now is vpFree2, LVA for point multipliers, the ACG website's monthly Vegas Values post and a few forums.  I'm wondering where else to look nowadays.  Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure of other sources at this point either. Also, the ACG's website and recent newsletter confirmed they are no longer doing casino coupons. It seems they are focused on their Jackpot Gents live streaming now. I've watched some, and it looks like most of what they play are negative expectation games. 

There are a few regular informative posters on Vegas Message Board re comps, deals, and good plays. Mike Shackleford's Wizard of Vegas site has a useful forum as well as many articles by the Wizard. Two Plus Two's Vegas Lifestyle forum often has useful food and lodging info.

Not only do they play crap games (98% or even worse); they play them quite badly. They're always in the same casino, a place I've never heard of in Florida.

I wonder what the mechanism is. Obviously, the casino lets them play and film there--are they playing with their own money? Or is no money actually at stake? Does the casino pay them for the performative free publicity? Or do they pay the casino for the ability to generate Facebook followers?

One thing I find refreshing is that they do regularly lose, which is realistic. Some of these channels, everybody wins, all the time.

I like watching Jackpot Gents, they bet their own money, and just did an end-of-year summary of their wins and losses. 

They claim the strategies they use are tailored to the multiline, bonus-type video poker games they play, like Ultimate X, Ultimate X Gold, 6 Card Poker, and Split Card Poker. They reference, "Mr. Brain" often as a person they rely on for mathematical analysis, there was a "Mr. Brain" at the LVA offices during one of their podcasts. I'm not sure if it's the same guy, but Anthony said he is the biggest expert on Ultimate X poker strategy. 

They have strategy charts on their website:

Video Poker Strategy Charts - The Jackpot Gents

Results podcast from Jackpot Gents.

Our 2024 Casino Result! Find out How we Did After a Year of Playing Video Poker - YouTube

They apparently finished FAR above expectation, with a loss of only about 0.3% (if I'm reading their video correctly; I didn't watch the whole thing). The junk VP they play (to be fair, junk VP is the only kind available where they play) usually has a base paytable of around 98%, with sludge such as 7/5 Bonus Poker being their view of a "good" paytable. But fairly often, they sink down to horrors like 8/5 Double Double or even 8/5 Triple Double, in the 97% range.

As a general rule of thumb, the gimmick attached to the game (such as UX or Bonus Streak) gives back about 0.3% if played optimally. So assuming that they do play optimally (and they actually don't, strategy charts notwithstanding), their EV is around -1.7%, at best, before taking slot club bennies into account (and it's unclear whether they're using players' cards in the videos).

Two things save them: 1) they play relatively slowly, with the narration and all, and 2) their sessions are short. So while they play at medium-high stakes, their daily coin-in is smallish. The video misstates their resukts in terms of percentage, by making a booboo on the decimal point placement. They say they got a 99.96% return; they actually got a 99.6% return. Which was still far better than they "should" have done.

You can't play negative expectation VP for long without losing. All you can do is hope that you'll do better than you "should."

Not sure but they are "sponsored" by casino.org. Guess they get some kind of "monitisement" (if that is a word) from them. And I believe that youtube gives them a revenue stream as well.

I agree that they play junk games well below 99%.

Playing in Florida payables are mostly junk.

There personal income is YouTube-that is not figured into there yearly winnings of playing.

Just out of curiosity, I've always wondered just how effective YouTube is for individuals to generate income, and what number of subscribers you need to make it worth the trouble. I haven't located any source that spells it all out. 

That aside, I consider the videos to be a disservice to gamblers. They don't mention, for example, that every single time you push the SPIN button, when you're betting $25 a hand, on a 98% game, you're tossing fifty cents over your shoulder each hand you play. Modest speed, four bucks a minute. Two hundred and forty dollars an hour (!). Unavoidable. Immutable. It doesn't matter if you won on today's video. You'll lose more than you win. And the more you play, the more you'll lose.

These guys also use the videos to shill for casino.org, as you mention, and all the wonderfulicious strategy charts blah blah. Why show anyone how to play a shitty game in the best way possible? Isn't the only worthwhile advice to avoid the games altogether?