It’s a paradox of life that when you have the ability to distinguish between experts and charlatans on a topic you probably already know as much as the experts and therefore no longer need to consult them.

Exhibit A is economics. At least 90% of economists are retarded. Totally spectacularly wrong about everything. If you doubt me then conduct the same experiment I did in 2007/8 – write down their predictions and track the results. It’s no joke to say monkeys have greater predictive powers. But where does the average person turn for financial advice? There is a carefully constructed edifice of serious economics that takes considerable time to master before you have the confidence to dismiss it all as worthless bullshit. Not everyone is lucky enough to stumble into Ludwig Von Mises in the first few months of study like I was. Instead, they have to listen to those same self-serving book-talking fuckwits who are constantly surprised every time an economic indicator turns to the downside.

Exhibit B is martial arts. At least 90% of martial arts styles are retarded. Kung fu, karate, tae kwon do, Nin ten do, No can do, aikido, wushu, wing chun, wing ding, krav maga, ninjitsu. Total rubbish the lot of them. Before the UFC came along and clowned those clowns, how many people were lucky enough to stumble into brazilian ju-jitsu and muay thai?

Exhibit C brings us to Game. At least 90% of pick up materials are retarded and at least 90% of PUAs are retarded. Actually, I exaggerate just to fit into the same pattern as the prior exhibits but you know what I mean. Success with women is such a strong determinant of your personal happiness that it’s easy for a procession of charlatans to pick your pockets with false promises. The most difficult task for the would-be aspiring PUA is to sift through the sea of overpriced overhyped snake oil to uncover the legit instructors selling legit material. How do you do that?

It’s not until you’ve internalised the basic principles of game and started to bang hot girls that you can distinguish between the charlatans and the players.

Before you get there you could’ve wasted £’000s and years of your life. Or you could’ve gotten lucky and found a great mentor who isn’t coveting your wallet. I haven’t been in the community long enough to have all the answers. Some of the ahem “less useful” material and “lesser skilled” gurus are obvious, others are legit but horribly overpriced. But there’s a whole sea of product out there that makes wild promises and may or may not deliver.

What to do?

Just to get it out of the way, here’s the low-budget resource guide that I personally recommend to the noob:

The Mystery Method: The most thorough and dense textbook out there and available on Amazon at a normal book price. Read this first. Absorb the theoretical framework and everything else you learn in game, reflect back on this framework to know why it works. £10.
Assanova’s blog: A content rich discussion on natural game with hundreds of insightful theme-driven posts, much of which can be lifted out and applied infield. Free. On the rare occasion he releases an ebook, it’s worth snapping up despite a relatively steep price of £20.
Roissy’s blog: His nihilism will turn off most new readers but this guy is at the absolute cutting edge of merging sexual realism with classic game theory. He will ground you in the whys of game. Free. As you absorb more, start following all the other blogs.
Roosh’s blog (free) and his book Bang (£15). Simple direct advice with a strong focus on small-scale tactics and step by step processes. No theoretical advances, just a workmanlike distillation of existing knowledge in a cheap package.
Community bootcamp: Find the forum of your local lair and keep an eye on the events section. My local is the LSS and they are always doing “approach days” or “non-profit bootcamps”. Often the guys running them are better than commercial instructors. Read the forums till you figure out who is who.
Free 1-on-1s: Many of the experienced but not especially commercial guys will offer free tuition to build their rep before going commercial, or just because they enjoy mentoring. Again, take advantage of this because they are often better than the full-timers. But be respectful – they are giving you a ton of value so don’t be a dick. You’d be surprised how many socially inept fuckwits ask for tutorials, turn up late, don’t apologise, then act sullen the whole time. Wankers. Don’t be one of them.
The Royal Court: a fitness routine that requires only a pair of shorts, bottle of water, towel, and small amount of space. Do 500 hindu squats, 100 hindu pushups and a 5 minute wrestlers bridge. Do this three times a week. For all that inner game is king, don’t be a fat sweaty fuck. Free.
Ebay: The best place for cheap but decent clothing. Get the photo of a movie star / pop star you think is cool and not too far from your body type, then search ebay for similar stuff. Get a leather jacket, two shirts (one plain, one patterned), two t-shirts and a pendant. Don’t bother with the furry hat, aviation goggles or retard spiked hair. Should cost you £150 tops. Then go into Next and drop £30 on simple blue jeans and another £40 on leather boots.

And if money (or bittorrent) is no object?

RSD Blueprint Decoded: Still the high watermark of inner game and natural vibing. Horrendously overpriced but there’s nothing else to match.
RSD Flawless Natural: You need something that has the mechanics of running a set and this is my favourite.
How To Become an Alpha Male (John Alexander) £30.
Pro Bootcamp: You should still do at least one commercial bootcamp but do your due diligence. This means (i) research the company on google and the forums (ii) get it in writing which instructors will be there and then search youtube and google for infield footage – if you can’t find it ask them to provide it. If they won’t THEY ARE A FRAUD. I’ve only been doing this stuff less than a year and already I got 30+ infield videos from the last three months alone and I don’t charge £1000 for a bootcamp. What’s an mPUA’s excuse for not having some? If some guy is telling you he can teach you to sleep with five supermodels in a weekend, get the cheeky fucker to at least show you videos of him sleeping with one. Watch it and if your spidersense tingles “fake” then move on to the next company. (iii) do not fall for the up-sell deluxe super VIP package. Just buy the cheap basic seminar/infield weekend package. All the bells and whistles will still be there if you wanna come back – it’s a buyer’s market.
1-on-1: After you’ve done all of the above and started to get your wits about you, find an instructor who fits your idea of how your game will be. Research his reputation. Then contact him and book a few hours personal time. There’s very few guys making a good living out of game. Even a guy who is legendary in the local lair for his skills will probably really appreciate £100-£200 cold hard cash for a few hour’s work on a Saturday morning. I stress again – it’s a buyer’s market. Remember that and don’t be bullshitted into signing blank cheques.