A reader e-mailed me the following observation:

No game?

Go out, get drunk with your friends.

Wake up feeling like a bag of shit.

THEN go run your game. I can’t believe I never noticed this. I went drinking last night with a few buddies, got hammered and today felt like crap. I went to the mall to get a Mother’s Day gift, and I tried to get a few things going with some sexy girls. I’m at the mall so rarely so I try to take advantage of it. I approached five girls and came away with two numbers.

Gaming girls when you’re hungover is pretty airtight, just make sure you shower and get dressed first, because you at least want to look presentable (I donned a typical jeans and t combo over black loafers with aviators up top) and not smell like a brewery. When you’re hungover, you don’t give a fuck, you feel like shit, your movements are slow, your voice is in a lower register and you feel too crappy to put up a false facade of happiness when some little hottie is talking to you. In other words, hangovers make you more aloof, less caring, more alpha.

Looking back on those times when my pickup attempts intersected with my hangovers, I have to say this sounds right. There is gold to be mined in hangover game. The reader hit upon the main reason hangover game works — it turns you into a surly asshole.

What do you get when you take a man and deepen his voice, slow down his movements, remove all semblance of a smile, infuse him with a don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, and prop dark sunglasses on his raccoon eyes? You create a pussy magnet.

Suggestion: There is a fine line between hungover zombie and homeless bum, so shower off the stank and brush your teeth before heading out into the painfully bright sunlight.