You may have a clever pick-up line up your sleeve, but that doesn’t mean it’s foolproof. If it’s not an original line, you’re taking the chance that the woman you’ve used it on has heard it before. She may even realize what you’re trying to do because she’s heard of PUA, and can recognise that that’s what you’re trying to emulate. If you’re prolific in your attempts to seduce women you’ve just met, sooner or later you’re bound to encounter one who is onto you. Be prepared for when it happens, so you don’t dig yourself into a hole on the spot.
Don’t take your game from The Game
Get past a bad line
Neil Strauss’s The Gameis a great read, but the message you should take away from it in regards to your game is that you have to set yourself apart. You shouldn’t try to recycle any of the lines or techniques. The Best Friends Test is especially something to be avoided unless you are using it on someone particularly naïve, since too many women have heard it before. The rest must have read it in Strauss’s famous New York Times bestseller.
But just because you’re not silly enough to glean your material from a popular source doesn’t mean you’re safe from being caught out. Any pick-up technique that is published can be read by anyone, so even if you are using material from an obscure source, there is still the risk that she will have read it before or had it used on her before.
Don’t deny it when she calls you out
Last night, a guy approached me at a bar with the question, “What do you think of wombats as a house pet?” He probably thought he was being very clever and original, but I called him out on it. He denied any knowledge of the seduction community, and rather than cut his losses, he decided to tell me he could guess the number between one and ten that I was thinking of (it’s always seven). At this point my friend approached, and he tried another trick on her. Her response was to excitedly tell him, ‘I read The Game too!’ and again he pretended not to know what we were talking about.
By denying what he was doing, he ruined any chance he could have had. If he had said “okay, you caught me,” or something to that effect, he could have saved the conversation and engaged in some unplanned flirting. He could have asked us what we suggest he does instead to pick up women, not because he wants the advice, but as a way of engaging us without being obvious about his intentions. Even if he had initially denied what he was doing in a moment of panic, he could have then said “okay, I lied,” and been cheeky about it. When a woman is onto you, it’s best to admit it before you destroy any potential with her.
I admitted I’m trying to pick her up, then what?
If she’s recognized one technique then you can’t just switch to another one. Even if she hasn’t encountered the new one before, she will be alert to what you’re doing and it won’t work. It’s time to change tactics entirely. Do something to set yourself apart. Perhaps you could try to engage her into a conversation about what she thinks about the seduction community, or you could ask her if she thinks techniques usually work. You’ll find that the real you, rather than the improved you embellished with pick-up lines and techniques, will have far more success with a woman who is onto you.
