My roommate came home from work this evening and wanted to go to our local bar. I figured "Yeah, sure." as an opportunity to observe. I definitely feel that at the point I am in my Seddit studies, I couldn't possibly run game on anyone. Well, at some point in the night, a person in the group (6+) notices that the girls at the table next to us have been approached "close to 30 times". I figured "Seeing as how 30 dudes have failed before me, I might as well give this a shot." and I did. Not only do I run game, but I am in the ZONE! I am push/pulling, I'm displaying DHV, I'm dismissing their DHVs, I am following everything to the letter! I bet that I would have received a pat on the back from almost everyone in this subreddit for the actions I took, for better or for worse. For close to 30 minutes, I felt like I was 'THIS CLOSE' to some sort of close, be it K, F or number.

THEN! I felt like I got taken out by a sniper bullet. A "buddy" yells "Hey {Takfam}! When are you going to buy us another pitcher!?" He straight called me out as the "rich guy" in front of these girls. Anyone that has read my posts will know that I'm unemployed and struggling just as hard to find a job as I am to make ends meet. I obviously could not make that kind of move (especially after buying 4 pitchers for the table over the course of the night). After that, my game ran cold because I couldn't very well display any sort of higher value. When 2 of the group went outside for a smoke, I went with them to remove myself from the situation (I don't smoke). I explained how I felt and got the standard ignorant "You've got to PAY to PLAY" response that so many people feel is the truth in today's dating scene.

That was it. All I heard from my friends the rest of the night was how I should have bought the pitcher I was asked for (despite having ZERO money with which to do so) and how if OTHER people were to be my wingman, I still would have had no success in that situation.

Honestly, it feels like I got royally screwed by my buddies just trying to get free beer because they knew they could make me look bad in front of girls I was trying for. I am looking for ANY other possible outlook on this situation. Truth told, I want someone to play devil's advocate and tell me where I could have screwed up.

(Caveat: I had several beers at the bar and while I'm not fucked-in-half drunk, I can definitely recognize that I'm kind of buzzed. Maybe that was my problem? If it is, I would appreciate someone telling me so. I'm going to sleep after this since its almost 4:00am [couldn't sleep worth a damn after that kind of failure] but I appreciate any and all responses I receive before I wake.)

(Caveat 2: Don't tell me I need a job. I know I do. I am looking for work daily. I applied to no less than 10 jobs before noon today. I am actively trying to find work.)

EDIT: Thank you for the comments. I definitely let myself get derailed after the issue of money was brought up. That's something I can work on. Now that I've slept a little, I feel the need to clarify my "in the zone" comment with a more in-depth FR for people reading this in the future. After the "30 guys have failed" comment. I moved around our table to keep them in my peripheral vision. HB8 with an HB6.5 friend. Someone in the group had a joke that both girls laughed at. I said "Are you going to come over and entertain us or are you just going to keep to yourselves all night?" HB8 laughs, HB6.5 looks like she can smell me from a mile away. HB8 asks my name, gives hers, I ask HB6.5 her name and her icy block starts melting a little bit. Small talk. I ask HB6.5 where her boyfriend is, she's recently broken up. For some reason, that was the magic bullet that cracked the lock on HB6.5. I can only assume the 30 previous guys didn't include her in the conversation at all. Their mistake. To continue, I'm wearing an Angels cap and HB6.5 is an Angels fan so we're both teasing HB8 about the Dodgers. She says at least the Dodgers didn't sign Vernon Wells to a huge contract. I lean over to HB6.5 and say "That's surprising, HB8 looks like the kind of girl that likes guys with 'Huge Contracts'." Laughs all around. HB8 comes back with "What kind of guy wears a baseball cap when the Superbowl is next week?" Ding, shit test. I show her a picture of myself on my cell phone and say "This guy. He looks pretty good in ball caps. No homo." She laughs. HB6.5 calls me out on being a flirt at this point. Shit test #2. I put a hand on my chest and say "Madam, you have wounded me greatly and I'm not sure that I can go on. I think I will retire for the evening. Farewell." and start fake-limping away before HB6.5 pulls me back by the back of my shirt. More laughs. At that point I'm thinking how I can engineer some one-on-one time with HB8 and the "HEY! PITCHER" incident happened and I let myself get taken out of my zone. It was really an epic collapse. Suddenly confused, I panicked, told them I was going outside with my friends for a cigarette, got the "Pay to Play" speech from my friends and never went back to their table. Failure? Yes. Did I learn something? Absolutely.