If you’re able to systematically discover and plan for every contingency in your sets then you’ll essentially have error-free game.
So what’s a contingency? In pickup, it’s a possible outcome. Let’s say a girl say she has a boyfriend - a great solution to this contingency is simply: “I understand. We’ll be discreet.”
There are hundreds of such contingencies that can arise - learning game is about learning how to respond to these, and having solutions to these. Certain pieces of game throw up the same possible contingencies every time, and it’s worth planning for these.
Opening
Take opening. Opening has three contingencies. Let’s say we rock up with “Hey, I’m Sinn”.
Contingency 1: They respond with an indicator of disinterest (IOD): “We’re having a conversation, sorry”
Solution: Respond with a bigger IOD, like “You’re such a little shit!”. It’s important in this case to be able to hold the calibrator at the end - we need to be able to soften or harder this IOD depending on how she reacts to it.
Contingency 2: They respond with an indicator of interest (IOI): “I love your hair!”
Solution: Fluff talk / comfort game while simultaneously raising my value in line with theirs - you need to make sure you don’t over-do this.
Contingency 3: They respond neutrally: “Hey, I’m Janelle”
Solution: Raise my value as quickly as possible while making sure that I disqualify if necessary.
Handling Interrupts
Later on during your interaction, there are other common contingencies that pop up: The target starts to lose interest; say “Hey, show’s over here!”. Maybe the obstacle is trying to cause problems? Disarm her by complimenting her.
If a 2 set turns in to a 3 set (what we call an interrupt):
1. Say to the set “Hey, introduce me to your friend, it’s the polite thing to do!”
2. Then introduce yourself to the new person
3. Neg the target in front of the obstacle: “is she always like this?”
4. Start a new thread: a new opener or routine directed at the new person - “did you guys see the fight outside?”
Mixed Sets
The next major point - finding out how they all know each other. Ask: “How do you guys all know each other?” Let’s say it’s a mixed set:
Contingency 1: They’re a couple, and you find out they’ve been together for two years.
Solution: If you want the girl (which is a pretty poor ethical decision), you need to disqualify hugely by talking about your girlfriend, then befriend the guy by engaging him in ‘guy talk’ subjects while negging the girl. Then mention that you’re ignoring his GF and tell him that you want to hang with him, but you want to make sure his GF is ok with it. Then isolate her.
Contingency 2: They’re friends from work.
Solution: Still befriend the guy, but don’t make too much of an effort to include him - you can still isolate the girl without his permission, as he has no claims to her.
Contingency 3: They just met.
Solution: No need to befriend him, instead just fully engage the girls, then move them ASAP.
Moving Forward
The same situations crop up again and again in qualification, in comfort, in LMR. What I’m trying to get across is that there are repeatable patterns to human behaviour, and time in field will reveal those to you. If every time you run an opener you get the same objects, that’s a contingency you need to work on.
Bryan Tracy says that one of the key differences between successful and unsuccessful people is that successful people recognize patterns and learn what to say and do when those patterns emerge. The same thing rings true for gaming. Successful guys recognize the patterns and respond with the correct contingency.
