Daygame in NYC: A Review

“One can’t paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.”

Georgia O’Keeffe

NYC By The Numbers

This post will talk about my trip to NYC and my experience daygaming there, but I thought I would change things up a bit. Instead of writing up my experience and reflecting on it and then go into the stats, I will start with the numbers and then go into more detail in subsequent paragraphs. Without further ado, here are my stats:

• Days in NYC: 8
• Approaches: 76
• Numbers: 14
• Dates: 2 (here and here)
• Near misses: 2 (see above)
• Average age of the girls I went out with: 18.5
• Honorable mentions: I do think only staying a week in NYC made it tougher on me, both on the dates I went, as well as not being able to get out some of the leads I had.
  • There was a black girl that I opened on Friday (I was leaving on Sunday) that was super cute, Breeze even commented he would have approached her if I didn’t go for it, and he usually doesn’t go for black girls! The set was on, and she was down for drinks on Saturday… except I was busy getting dinner with the guys during the time she mentioned and told her to meet me later, only to find out she had plans – but she did offer Monday or Tuesday night. If I had another week in NYC, I am very confident that would have been my third date out of the approaches I did
  • There was also a 28 year old slim Venezuelan girl I approached on Monday who loved the set but ended up being a bit flaky over WhatsApp (Latinas can be that way!) and I tried to get her out until the last minute, but unsuccessfully. With this one, it is likely that even with more time I wouldn’t have been able to get her out, but if I had more time and could afford to play it cooler who knows what would have happened?
  • There was also a smoking hot Puerto Rican brunette that gave me a huge IOI as I was walking to have dinner on Monday with Breeze, and the set was going great… until her Eastern European “friend” showed up as I was trying to close! I still closed like a boss anyway, but the energy changed at that second, I could feel it (if I had two minutes to close before he showed up, things would likely have been different, she was into me and I could tell). It was an interesting experience, but she never responded to the feeler
  • A 19 year old Mexican student who at first told me I was too old for her when I tried to close… then I closed anyway and she responded to my text straight away and even said at one point “yeah I wanna chill soon”, but she ended up being busy studying for exams during the week, and I tried to overhype the adventurous card and get her out. She was in play until the last night, but I couldn’t get her out. Not the strongest lead, but if I had more time and could play it cooler rather than trying to force getting her out, she might have came out as well (although I got a similar vibe from her as the 28 yr old Venezuelan above, so even if I had more time both might have still flaked anyway)

Every Beginning Is Hard

I was looking forward to my NYC trip – I had never been, and I was super excited to explore the city, feel its vibe, and of course hit the streets hard! Well, I think the fact that I was looking forward to it so much for the couple of weeks before the trip got to me and it even overwhelmed me a bit initially. On the Saturday of my arrival, I met up with Breeze and the Pickup Artist Formerly Known As Mr.V, and the three of us hit the mean streets of NYC. It was an interesting experience for me, and like I said, I got overwhelmed a bit – I hadn’t really done street daygame up to that point (besides some college campus game, but that feels a lot different), the streets were looking way more packed than anything I had seen here in the Midwest (it reminded me of Europe!), I had only done a handful of front stops in my daygame career and needed to work on my technique, and when one of the other guys was doing an approach I was so curious to watch them in set that I wasn’t actively looking for my own sets as much as I should have been. A bit later, Brown Daygamer joined us as well, and now there were 4 of us walking the streets. Breeze and V were super helpful in giving me feedback on my front stop after I did a couple of sets, and I knew what I needed to do. However, my mind was going crazy analyzing everything that was happening – new city, fuller streets (even though according to Breeze and V, not as many solo girls as usual on weekends), getting used to the front stop, getting used to having wings to watch/wait for as they game, getting used to spotting sets in the crowd, etc. All in all, by the time we all sat down for dinner, I had done a total of 3 sets, with no leads. After my high hopes for NYC, that definitely felt like a letdown! When I went back to my Airbnb, I knew I needed to do better, and I actually had trouble sleeping as my mind was analyzing the crazy amounts of information I had picked up daygaming in NYC. I also have to say – it was super cool daygaming with V, Breeze and Brown Daygamer (for the rest of the trip, I mostly daygamed with Breeze). Four people can feel like a lot when daygaming, especially to someone like me who is used to going at it alone, but we made it work, and I learned from each one of them, as they all had distinct styles and thoughts. Great guys with great vibe as well, that first day was a memorable experience for me!

On Sunday, I was about to meet with Breeze and V again for some daygame in Brooklyn, at a spot recommended to us by Brown. I was looking forward to hitting the streets hard, I knew I needed to do more sets and just go for it, and work on my front stop. I did a quick set in the morning, and then my fifth set of the trip ended up being the subway set with Julia, the teen model who ended up being my first date in NYC, and my first near miss that I have linked above. Sometimes, as long as you are out there taking action, things happen out of nowhere! After getting off the subway, I met with Breeze and V, and did a few sets in Brooklyn, without much traction. A Latina with super fit body was the most fun approach that I remember, she loved the set and was pretty flirtatious, but ended up having a boyfriend as I tried to work myself deeper into the set. I tried to override that objection (I usually don’t, but being in NYC for a week I said fuck it, let’s see what happens), but she told me she lives with him and it didn’t go anywhere, although both of us were still smiling and she touched my arm as she was talking about it. I even ended up doing a two set later on (something I rarely do), but that went nowhere. At the end of the day, I had done six approaches, so over the weekend I had done 9 approaches, a bit short of the goal I had in mind. I knew I needed to pick it up, but I didn’t see as many good sets as I would have liked. I knew I was getting into the groove of things, and Sunday was definitely better than Saturday, so I was super excited for Monday and seeing how I would be able to do alone (Breeze would join me for some sessions during the day later on, but not during the early parts of the week).

Hitting The Groove

On Monday morning, I went out of my apartment and I knew what I wanted to do: visit a couple of tourist sites early, and then later in the afternoon daygame into the evening as foot traffic picked up. I had set up a date with Julia for Tuesday afternoon, so my only lead was going well so far, now I needed to generate more. The first five sets went nowhere, and the last one of the five was my first NYC total blowout – a Chinese girl walked around my front stop without even looking at me, what a bitch! Of course, my vibe wasn’t really affected by it (I have gotten better at shaking those off from having done a decent amount of sets) and I even found it funny. I stopped by my apartment to drop the touristy things I had picked up, and it was now around 3 pm – I told myself it was prime time for daygame, and that I needed to go hit the streets and get me some leads!

As soon as I did that and stepped out of my apartment, my luck seemed to change – I got the number of a cute Dominican girl who hooked strongly, then a set with an Asian girl who loved the approach but had a bf, and then I stopped the Venezuelan girl I mentioned above. A couple of numbers in quick succession, and suddenly I was into the groove – I was actively looking for more sets, I had gotten the hang of this NYC place now! My front stop felt better, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the mean streets of New York anymore, I was a man on a mission and I knew it. My 500th daygame set happened as well, and it was a very fun, flirty one – it was with a small Asian girl, I teased her about being a ninja and she loved the roleplay, contributing to it and even bringing back a reference to it later in the set! Sexual eye contact was there, she even pulled her mask down for me – so when I number closed her by seeding we get a drink together soon, I thought it was a guaranteed lay, right? So I texted her later that night… and she never responded to my feeler text! That’s how the game goes sometimes, you could have a set that feels on… and then you send a text into the void.

I got an IOI off a slim Kazakh short girl, and the set was super on until I tried to number close, so the set ended in an interesting way with me persisting to close her, but that didn’t feel too good – her English was bad so I wasn’t sure what exactly her resistance to me taking her number was, but it was an interesting set, and despite the IOI and the good work I had done in set, I felt like the number was dead, and it ended up being no good. I did a few more sets, and then on the way to dinner with Breeze I did my last set of the day, with the Puerto Rican girl I wrote about above. She might have been the hottest girl I had opened while in NYC, and she also gave me a huge IOI as she stood there, and the set was super sexual and flirty…until her “friend” showed up. Writing about it now, it has taken me back to the set and how good it all felt, and how weird it felt once her friend showed up. I am very happy with the way I held frame and handled the situation, but the feeling of practically knowing that I lost a hot lead due to her friend showing up then and not 2 minutes later wasn’t the best if I am being honest. That’s the breaks of daygame though – I even joked to her about her waiting for a Tinder date earlier on in the set before he showed up, and she said “Oh no, I am just waiting for my friend” I had a feeling based on how she reacted and her mood changed as soon as he showed up that they were a bit more than that, but girls are gonna be girls!

That was a wrap for Monday – I had done 18 approaches, and after the initial 5 where I had gotten no numbers, I ended with 5 numbers, some of them more solid than others. I felt great – I had proven to myself that the initial feeling of being overwhelmed was gone, and my mind was finally able to get used to NYC and its streets. I had been able to improve my game with each set, and walk with confidence knowing that while daygaming indoors is different from street daygame, the transition can be quick once you make the adjustments and process all the information your brain sees on the mean, crowded streets of NYC. I went to bed happy that night, knowing that I gave it my all, my vibe was good, and I was happy but surprised at the amount of IOIs I had gotten that day, some of them from super hot girls.

Tuesday was when my date with Julia was going to be, and it also ended up being the day when I approached Amy, my two dates and near misses, so it was one of the better days I would end up having in NYC! Of course, I also had to hit the streets, and interestingly enough, Amy was my fifth approach of the day and my first number – just like Monday, the girls I approached at first were either not interested or unavailable. Maybe some of it was due to the fact that I had to warm up and get in the zone as well – here in the Midwest, I rarely do days where I can get 5+ approaches due to the volume, but being in a city where that is possible, I definitely felt the rising confidence and DGAF attitude that comes from going for a lot of approaches during a single day. The 19 yr old Mexican girl was also a lead from Tuesday, as well as a Russian girl who loved my approach and we had a good interaction in set where she offered me her number, and while we did exchange some texts back and forth, she went radio silent as soon as I suggested a date. Overall, Tuesday ended with 12 sets and 3 numbers, not as many sets as Monday but the numbers ended up being a bit more solid, and I had done 30 sets over 2 days! (The most I had done in a week in the Midwest prior to my NYC trip was 22, and that was an outlier, so I was loving the volume!)

Winged Daygame

Wednesday was the first weekday where I daygamed with Breeze, as we wanted to hit the streets together for the remaining time I had in NYC. We ended up getting along super well and being good wings for each other, keeping our vibe up and encouraging each other to go for girls when we were on the fence – all while exploring NYC! Before my trip, I had heard that NYC daygame can be brutal and wear players out with a lot of blowouts, and girls walking away right after the opener, making conversation hard to get. Up until this point, with the exception of a few sets, I had experienced something different – lots of volume even during Corona, with a couple of leads generated in the first few days, and streets that seemed to be full of excitement. Was it the fact that I was shiny in NYC? Perhaps – while Breeze and I were picking up smoothies on one of the days, I had an older slimmer girl basically daygame me because she heard Breeze and I talk, and she liked my accent. If she was a bit younger and cuter I would have taken her number, but that felt good. I also got called some variation of handsome or good-looking every day by a girl or two while in set (or on the dates), and even though sometimes they had boyfriends and I didn’t close them, it still felt good – I was getting much better results than I usually do in the Midwest. Perhaps it was the fact that I was finally doing street game, which is what the London Daygame Model was invented for, so the daygame Gods were being super nice to me? I am not sure what it was, but I loved NYC and daygaming there!

Wednesday was also a good day for me – 10 approaches with 2 numbers. My front stop was feeling much better with all the practice I was getting, although I noticed I didn’t fully unpack topics in set sometimes, moving around too much too quickly. It wasn’t too big of a deal as I was still getting leads and eye sparkle, but it was something I had noticed I could improve to take my game to the next level. For the first five days, I had done 49 approaches, with 11 numbers coming out of them, and I was loving the volume and the opportunity NYC had to offer me. I also loved the food options and how you could walk everywhere, even if I didn’t go there for daygame I felt like I would have loved NYC, as it is the most European-like city on this side of the ocean in my opinion.

Thursday was the first day where I got the rough NYC daygame experience, and the second day I daygamed with Breeze during the week. We had a lot of fun, despite the fact that I did 12 approaches and got…. 0 numbers! Up until that point, I had done much better than my average, and closed almost every fourth girl, seeing a lot of IOIs, and getting a lot of investment from girls when I opened – even the ones that weren’t interested seemed to love the fact that I approached them. Thursday was different – way less interest, way less hooks, and no numbers as mentioned. I am definitely blaming the shirt I was wearing that day, it was obviously the reason for my diminished results! A highlight of Thursday was probably a girl with HUGE tits (likely fake) that I noticed seating on a bench, I told Breeze I had to do that set and he agreed. The vibe of the set was flirtatious as I noticed her looking my way a couple of times before I approached her, and she loved the approach but did mention she lives with her fiance “right there” and pointed the skyscraper across from us, “so I am just chilling in my backyard” she said with a smile. Her fiance is probably loaded!

After a few more blowouts, I did get a good set with a brunette, and she was one of the cuter girls that I approached that day too – she mentioned her bf, but told me she finds me “cute” and she would if she was single. The vibe was good and eye contact was there, so I stuck around for a bit more and tried again, but it didn’t go anywhere, despite her obvious attraction to me. It picked up my vibe a bit, as some of the blowouts and the day generally being way less successful than the previous days got my head scratching a bit, but looking back on it, my game was still improving, I just ran into a lot of unreceptive girls on that day!

Friday was the day that I had my second date and second near miss with Amy, and also my second to last day daygaming in NYC, and I had just started to realize that my trip was going to come to its end soon, which I hadn’t thought about up until now. I had fallen in love with NYC, its vibe, and how much volume of girls its streets provided, so I wanted to milk it for all its worth (probably one of the reasons I pushed too hard with Amy). Friday ended up being a lot better than Thursday, with girls loving the approaches and even ones who had a bf or otherwise weren’t interested engaging and enjoying my approach. I got 3 numbers out of 9 approaches, and the last one was the black girl I mentioned in the opening section – she was down to meet the next day, but given the fact that I was leaving and meeting up with the guys, it didn’t happen, despite her suggesting meeting the week after. She also texted me the Sunday when I was leaving curious where I was going back to and when I would come back to NYC again, so it is safe to say she was a strong “Yes” girl, but it wasn’t meant to be! I also was happy with how my vibe recovered after the second near miss in a few days, and by the end of the day I had hit a stride where my approaches were very good. Breeze definitely helped me in the beginning, and talking him over what had happened definitely helped me pour my thoughts out and focus on having more, successful approaches once again, rather than focusing and overanalyzing the date I had just had.

Saturday was going to be my last day in NYC, and I wanted to make it count while having fun and enjoying myself! I met up with V and Breeze, and Breeze actually ended up going on an instadate shortly into the approach session! Meanwhile, my Saturday was a lot like the Thursday – I did 6 sets as volume again wasn’t the best (I had better luck finding solo girls during the week compared to the weekend) and got zero numbers once again. My best set was probably with a sexy Colombian who gave me an IOI as I walked by, and she opened up right away, loving that I approached her. However, she brought up the fact that she was engaged after a couple of minutes, so I let her go after that. Other than that, most of the sets were quick blowouts, and I finished it up with a smile on my face! After the approaching session, I had dinner with V, Breeze and Magnum. If you haven’t checked out his blog, give it a shot now – he is a very solid guy and knows what he is doing! I enjoyed sharing stories with all of them and learning from them, having fun on my last night in NYC. While the week hadn’t gone too fast and I had enough experiences to enjoy it and learn from it, I wished I could stay for another week, but all good things must come to an end! I left NYC early the next day, driving back to the Midwest (not before I stopped in Philly to meet up with Cypher though!)

General Thoughts on NYC Daygame

If I have to sum up my thoughts on daygame in NYC, I will first and foremost say this: if you are in America and trying to learn daygame, it doesn’t get much better than NYC! Even during these Corona times, there was plenty of volume on the streets, as can be seen from my 76 approaches over 8 days (an average of ~10 approaches per day). I did feel like the quality wasn’t what I expected from NYC, but Breeze and V both told me “You should have seen it before all of this happened!” – way more traffic, and of course higher quality and quantity of girls. I feel like I could have likely done 15-20 sets a day during normal times in NYC, but for someone who is used to doing an average of 5-10 sets per week here in the Midwest, having the ability to do so many sets in a week was a great learning experience. I realized that living in such a city would give me the opportunity to become a much better daygamer way quicker, while also getting more leads and results.

Of course, there were some blowouts too, and NYC can be a rough place to daygame at times, with most approaches leading to nowhere. I think if you are in America, it is the best place to learn daygame, as the volume mentioned above can be combined with the solid frame you build as girls just walk around you as you try to stop them – if that doesn’t get you tougher, nothing will! I remember one girl looked at me briefly as I stopped her, said “I am not interested in talking to strange men!” and walked away – I laughed as I walked back to V to tell him what had just happened, and I have a smile on my face as I am recalling that story right now. The general NYC/East Coast behavior means that some girls will ignore you like you are not even there, but on the plus side I did find out that if a set hooked, the girl loved the approach and it was easy to make progress. NYC is the most pedestrian out of any US city, making it the best place in the US of A (very nice, Borat like- high five!) to practice and learn street daygame.

Of course, we have to ask the question: how does NYC daygame compare to Europe? I haven’t done enough daygame in my home continent yet (I will try to change that over the next few years) to answer that question comprehensively, but just being raised in Eastern Europe, I could tell you that the average quality of girls is much higher, which should lead to a guy with roughly similar skillset doing better in Europe. There have been other daygamers who have been able to confirm that empirically, and they agree: Europe is better for daygame, for a variety of reasons. Read Roy and Runner‘s reviews of NYC as it compares to daygaming in Europe.

In summary, if you are located in America, then a place like New York is likely your best bet for consistent numbers of solid sets for daygame, as most other places just aren’t pedestrian enough to give you enough leads per hour. I did find Philly to be decent enough when I met up with Cypher, but of course not on par with NYC. Some places like LA could work for beach/mall game (Santa Monica) from what I read, and the strip in Vegas could give you some great opportunities for gutter game turning into night game, with decent logistics as well. I haven’t been to LA/Vegas to give you my take on it, but based on how NYC is setup, I do believe it is your best option for learning and improving your daygame skillset. Is it as good as most larger European cities though? As you can read above from daygamers who have done both, it is not even close – but beggars can’t be choosers, so if you have to be on this side of the ocean for work/family/whatever, then try to make it to NYC if you are serious about your daygame. I can tell you from experience – daygaming in the Midwest now after experiencing NYC feels like a huge letdown!

I had a lot of fun in NYC, and I would love to go back again once the city is back to its vibrant self. Right now though, my main goal is making it back to Europe next year once some of the restrictions are lifted, and spending some more time over there. This is my last blog post detailing my experience daygaming in NYC, I will be focusing on something a bit different over the next few weeks which I hope the daygame community will find useful. Stay tuned to my blog and my Twitter and you will see what I am talking about once I am finished!