So I just started telling a joke when I open and it has been working pretty well so far. The one I have been using is:

A math major and a engineering major walk into a bar and both sit next to a girl at a round table a few feet away. She tells them they can both sit half as far as they are now every five minutes. The math major gets up, says "this is pointless, I know the theorem" and walks off. The girl is puzzled why the engineering major hasn't walked off though so she asks him "Why haven't you left?" He replies "Eventually I will get close enough for practical application"

Any joke could work for this(I tried a few others, similar results), as long as you think its funny(try not to laugh while telling it, just smile) and it isn't too long to the point that they lose interest. I haven't had anyone reject me, and even when I screwed up the joke a little the girl still laughed and continued the conversation. It also isn't direct, you can get away with saying things you normally couldn't in the first minute of talking to someone, and you aren't asking for an opinion so it isn't needy.

So you just run up to a girl and immediately start telling a joke? That sounds completely random. Why would she stick around to listen to somebody she doesn't know tell her a joke? It's not as if she has never heard a joke before, that's not going to impress her. Maybe she'll stick around if she's really bored and has nothing better to do but I thin kthere are much better more natural ways to approach.
Asking for an opinion isn't needy at all. In fact asking for an opinion is great because it begets a LONG, THOUGHT OUT answer from the girl and gets her talking which takes the pressure off of you

Then explain why it has worked. There is something wrong with how you think about it, not with what I am doing. Does stopping a girl as she is about to go into the door for class sound like she is bored and has nothing better to do? A joke that has repeatability will be good every time, and you will get better at telling it after practice. And don't knock it till you try it bro. Field test this, and tell me what your results were. I have not had a bad approach when doing this. Nobody has said "why the fuck are you telling me a joke? go away." They usually comment on the joke, transition to another topic, or (rarely) share their own joke. Sounds like natural normal behavior to me.


Opinion openers are needy, you need their advice. You want something from them immediately, why should she help you? Plus opinion openers are usually the most unnatural gaming out there, most of the time its something you don't even care about and you have asked a hundred women before. For me I immediately began almost tuning out their answer, not good for gaming, they could probably spot something was up. The more I talked to them the more they realized this. A joke that has repeatability will be good every time, and you will get better at telling it after practice.

No, you completely miss the point.

The opinion question can make a great and very natural opener if you are, for example, trying on sunglasses in the mall.

For more complex personal questions, you don't use opinion as an opener, you're right that would be weird. You reserve it for actual issues in your life so you can back it up, and you use it to build rapport after you've already started talking by showing that you value her opinion. It forces her to actually think and provide a novel answer rather than reciting some canned information, which makes the interaction more engaging for her. The type of question you ask, and the back story you give it, also allows you to work in attractive details about your character. You don't phrase the question like you are a complete idiot who has no clue what to do in the situation; rather, you phrase it like an intelligent person, who already has given it some thought and has some good ideas, but is curious in a female's opinion.

Good post, makes sense, way better way to view why I have been getting such mixed results from my opinion openers. When viewing it like that my joke opener may be a little less natural, more canned but I will still use it since I like having something to break the ice with where I don't have to think of a new opener every two seconds. I meet more people than I can come up with opinion openers.

I think the situational opener is about as close as you can get to being universally applicable...I would say it is easy and natural for any situation where she isn't on the move.

I admit though, sometimes I just want a way to stop a girl in her tracks as she is walking down the street, and the situational openers are too casual for this. Jokes and street magic might be more effective here...but I don't really like 'em because then you are essentially putting on a canned performance. I wish I knew a better way to stop a woman in her tracks while remaining genuine and without having to go the over the top crazy-romantic route of "omg you are so beautiful I just had to stop you and have a conversation..."

You can use opinion openers for that. Or any opener. You just have to transition to another interesting topic before she has a chance to leave. They will usually stop to give their opinion, from there you just have to transition, even if you have to end your routine quicker than normal to keep their attention.