I'm brand new to the game. Started gaming like an AFC about 2 months ago. Then I learned about 'the game' about a month ago. Here's what's happened so far:

Origins: I'm 5'3 or 5'4. Two years ago I weighed at least 185 lbs (I was too scared to weigh myself around that time). I was pretty introverted. I was insecure in my height, weight, my mannerisms, my ethnicity, and my introvertedness. I've only had one 3-month relationship, and that was in high school. Went through college without kissing a girl.

What I Did About It: Hit the gym, got into running, and now I'm 135. Gained a ton of confidence after the weight loss when I began to see some muscle definition. Was never much into style, but I donated my fat clothes and realized I might as well upgrade my wardrobe with some swag. Gained more confidence. Started hanging out more with my friends and branched out with new groups of friends. Started playing less video games. Gained more confidence.

Mini FRs:

I actually began to get over my AA before learning about the game, when a couple months ago, my friends egged me on to approach a 5 set of HB7s. I introduced myself, integrated our two groups of friends, and had decent conversation. I was hooked. Vacationed with some friends over Labor Day weekend. Got bottle service 3 nights in a row and was opening 4 sets about 3 times a night and never really got shot down (but never closed on anyone either).

Got back home met an HB7 at a club, #-closed, went on a lunch date with her, but it fizzled.

Went to a dueling piano bar for a friend's birthday and got shot down pretty bad by a bachelorette party. Then went home, and I found out about 'the game.'

Read up on some literature, got the basic principles & ideas down, then went out to Baltimore again with some basic routines to improvise on. Out of 5 sets, got rejected once, and didn't get any successful closes, but realized that carefully worded openers help start conversation better than my pre-game opener, "Hi, my name is ____" (which isn't terrible, but certainly doesn't get conversation going).

Went out to a really small lounge for a friend's birthday. Wasn't expecting to sarge much, since there were probably <100 people in the place, but I ended up number closing two girls outside of our group that night. Didn't follow through (at the time, I didn't think they were my 'type', but I should've set up something anyway for the experience).

Was feeling really cocky at this point, and I was (proudly) beginning to get a reputation among my friends.

This weekend was very humbling. On Friday, I planned to go out sarging solo for the first time (per my first post on seddit), but at the last minute, some friends called for a guys night out. They're all in LTRs, but they were excited to see me in action, and wanted to live through me by being my wingman. Big mistake. It was about 5 of us, and wherever we went, it was so obvious we were on the prowl. We'd be standing in a group, and they would all be looking around like predators, trying to find sets for me to approach. I knew we were repulsing any prospective targets from what they were doing, so I kept trying to tell them to just have fun & talk instead of trying to find sets for me. They didn't get the idea.

Anyway, I approached a few sets. I was doing a decent job opening & transitioning a set, but my drunken friend went up to them and tried to introduce me, "this is my friend, _____." I glared at him, he went away, but they were kind of turned off by that, and closed off on me.

Got rejected by a few sets right away. Opened a few sets, but nothing ever materialized; it seemed like the girls just didn't want to talk at all, and they'd just turn back to their friends.

On Saturday I went out with some friends to a club. Club was way too loud, but I tried approaching anyway. It was in vain. Every time I tried to open a set, the girls could not hear me at all. Conversation was a lost cause, so I'd just yell "wanna dance?" and of course, I'd get a "no, I'm with my friend."

Conclusions: Still need a lot of work, and still have a lot of AA. Was doing pretty well before learning some sarging principles, but learning about these things has given me more confidence in myself, and has led to more naturally-flowing and entertaining conversations, rather than the usual question & answer conversations.

TLDR: Brand new to game. Some 'on' nights, some 'off' nights. 3 #-closes so far, but nothing else yet. Still need lots of practice, but I'm improving. Faced a lot of rejections this weekend, but each one is less painful than the last.

Questions:

-Clubs are usually loud, but I can still operate. What can I do if a club is too loud?

-Do even the best PUAs have 'off' nights?