I'm currently in the process of bankroll building for 1/2 live from .02/.05 on Bovada's zone. Closing in at a starting bankroll of 2k I'm beginning to think of certain adjustments I'm going to need to be able to make in order to make a smooth transition into a solid live win-rate. Balancing decisions we don't have while readless on zone, assessing table types, starting hand consideration for large multi-way pots, 3 betting ranges and so on. I'm looking for a couple of solid winning regulars here to shed some insight on their base assumptions for live play and strategy in transition.

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One thing to maximize 1/2 wins is to look for hard exploits on people and follow them sometimes to the point of leaving the realms of what might seem normal. Some examples are lots of people limp/fold amounts that seem crazy. Also they couple this w calling huge raises and playing fit or fold post flop.
You can abuse the ever living **** out of it by playing way outside the box in position and making large (sometime much larger) than standard opening raises, and then cbetting half pot, because it takes the vast majority of the player pool way way too long to come up w a counter for it.

There's lots, but my suggestion would be to throw balance out the window in most situations, identify exploits and hammer them until you absolutely have to make an adjustment. People play their stereotypes overwhelmingly in low limit and do not think or pay enough attention to make adjustments a substantial part of the time. I lost out on a lot of money for a long time trying to stay in the lines and balance, can really be unprofitable in some situations.

Also... Game selection/seat selection>vast amounts of at the table skill in most situations.

What are your identifying markers for a good, soft game vs a tougher one? Time is money and quick assessment is key

Im for sure looking for as much action as possible. If you watch 2 different games for 5 minutes often the difference in how many preflop limps/raises between the 2 will become very apparent. I'm always taking the 1 w the most limps and/or raises as opposed to the nit fest. Also, moving if a good game turns bad, and I do a fair amount of bum hunting.

To be a little more clear, I'm basically either looking to steal relentlessly/tilt, snap and stack people, or Nitting up in a crazy game and printing money by having a strong preflop position and starting range. Basically the only really bad game imo are the ones where it's impossible to get a pot above $15 unless someone has TPTK+ or TT+ pre

Wait, so you won ~2k playing 5nl without moving up? I've built a live bankroll starting from $50 at 5nl on bovada, but I moved up after I thought I had enough bis for the next stake.

Also, you clearly don't believe this if you made 2k playing 5nl.

You could try the stickies.

Some of this money is from savings about ~600 profit from 5nl. I haven't moved up yet because I'm not sure of the skill difference and adjustments to make

Here are some of the main differences, refer to the stickies especially the one on how to print money at $1/2 and $2/5.

1) Pre-flop raising sizing is completely different; online the standard open is 3x while live depending on table conditions such as # of limpers can range from 5-10x. Don't expect to raise to $6 in 1/2 and thin the field cause you will most likely go 4 or 5 way at a minimum!

2) People who go to the casino don't like to fold and the majority of the players at your table will be of the loose passive variety. So, expect them to show up with hands you would otherwise discount after a pre-flop raise such as K2s or T6o

3) Pre-flop 3 bets are pretty rare and usually signal QQ+ for the majority of players; especially at $1/2. In fact, more often than not villains will decide to flat with AK and JJ since they don't want to bloat the pot with a vulnerable value hand

4) A lot more villains will give out free information such as showing their cards and other live tells that online are impossible to obtain.

Good luck and remember no one likes someone at the table who wears headphones and doesn't talk at all. Try to engage to the players to the left and right of you at a minimum because it makes it more enjoyable for the fish who will stay that much longer at the table. Plus, those players are more apt to show you their cards during a pot that doesn't go to showdown that you are up against.

Fold a lot. Raise good hands (way bigger than online) in position. Value bet, value bet, value bet. Red alert when they raise.

Be more conservative w/ c-betting. Double-barrel more when you do c-bet.

Print money.

Agree with folding a lot--The majority of the money you are going to make is going to be determined by the amount of attention you pay to what certain villains are trying to accomplish specifically and being able to lose the min as consistently as possible. Also, as a general rule vs most villains you have less FE than you think you do. If a line doesn't make sense and someone is making a large bet who you havent seen run any bluffs they have the goods almost always. B/fing is your friend and is the best way to succeed because most villains are more likely to call wide than anything else and will let you know when you should fold by raising.

OP, in the stickies you'd see the rule about asking in one post how to beat LLSNL.

Locked.

OP, You'll also see several good threads on transitioning to Live in the "best of LLSNL" sticky.