In clubs it's kid's stuff. It's dark loud and nobody knows who's solo or not. As for chill bars...
= Find cool with a good vibe = The better the venue the easier you feel inside
= Chat up people in your proximity = Whether you're heading bar or ordering a drink chat up people near you. Nobody knows you're solo. Don't stay out of conversation for too long. Chat up the person next to you even it for 30 seconds. You never know where it will take you. Read the vibe. If they don't open up then excuse yourself and leave. If they seem friendly and talkative hang in there.
= Don't show you're alone = Find busier with lots of people and bigger bars where you can blend in the crowd. Nobody knows you're alone unless you show it. You can be waiting for someone, you can be dropping by for a drink on your way to home. Whatever. Its easier in bigger venues
= Find your homebase = Find a group that wants to talk to you and stick to them as long as you all enjoy it. Then go approach other girls on your own. Then come back to them. Just like with actual friends. You shoot the shit with them and leave to chat up a girl on your own.
= Stay social = Solo game is NOT the time to post up alone and look cool with your drink. As you enter the bar, chat up someone near you as you're passing them by. Throw a situational comment. See if they bite. You never know what it will take you.
= Offer value = I think that's the key to it. Don't try to be adopted like a lost child. When you talk to someone add something to their night. Share a story or interesting fact relevant to their conversation or say some funny comment about girls demeanor / attitude / looks / smile / etc to quickly stand out. Give off the vibe you just share something positive without expecting anything, just like you would if you had a flight to some supercool place in the morning, you'd feel at ease just socializing.
in addition:
if you want to make it smooth then try this. get into whatever venue you want alone and sober and pretend you're looking for your friends. you go in, explore the whole venue, look around A LOT, acknowledge glances from girls with smile/waving hand/point finger at them/etc and as you walk by cute girl(s) or pass them by chat them up and make it spontaneous like you stop cause they peaked your interest and you got curious about something about them. then as you chat up one group/girl you can still make eye contact with other girls around and acknowledge their glances with some gesture or smile.
CRUCIAL KEY: as you're doing your round inside you have to make your move FAST and approach immediately ASAP. no lurking or waiting for some perfect moment. none of that. perfect moment is now. if you want to make like it just happened (to not be loner in a dive bar) you have to be ready to throw yourself into a situation in a milisecond. whatever you do the whole point is to make it look like you're on the move but you happen to meet some girls on your way so you stick around for a bit.
example:
you pass by a girl, she gets your attention for 2 seconds, you chat up...
"hey excuse me ladies, do you have sister [to the girl you like]?? you look so similar to blablabla...." or "hey excuse me have you seen a girl here who looked like xyz [describe some bomb ass chick], kind of like you but taller/younger... blablabla?" she's like "whaaat??!!" all sassy/pissed/standoffish/taken aback haha. you go "whoa you got some temper i like it maybe i should stay with you, who are you? blablabla.. so have you seen her? what, you don't like girls? everybody like girls! you would fall in love with her instantly you hear me? INSTANTLY haha". she's getting more emotional cause you talk about other girl and dissing her. all good. talk talk talk. if they ask you who you're with tell them you got invited for a night out [social proof] but your cell phone battery died so you will probably end up having fun on your own etc. when they ask you to have a shot/beer you tell you're on the last day of some weird strict diet challenge. talk talk talk. you still check out others in the venue, you see a girl subtly glancing at you, you smile back to her. talk talk talk. then "excuse me ladies i think i saw someone i know see ya later" and you can walk up to that next girl. if it fails you can go back to that first group.
this way you can check any kind of venue in very short time being sober/solo. IMO the time before first approach is kind of sink or swim thing. there is really no room for procrastination going solo/sober in small venues where drinking with friends is expected.
i experimented with procrastinating on purpose in small dive bars by walking in, loooking around, posting up alone and getting on my phone texting to buy some time, spot cute ladies and assess how to approach them. with every second i was getting more and more inside my head and weird and lame. somehow i didn't project that on girls i finally approached and it went ok. overall, it's not that bad when you'r well groomed and you look good.
= Find cool with a good vibe = The better the venue the easier you feel inside
= Chat up people in your proximity = Whether you're heading bar or ordering a drink chat up people near you. Nobody knows you're solo. Don't stay out of conversation for too long. Chat up the person next to you even it for 30 seconds. You never know where it will take you. Read the vibe. If they don't open up then excuse yourself and leave. If they seem friendly and talkative hang in there.
= Don't show you're alone = Find busier with lots of people and bigger bars where you can blend in the crowd. Nobody knows you're alone unless you show it. You can be waiting for someone, you can be dropping by for a drink on your way to home. Whatever. Its easier in bigger venues
= Find your homebase = Find a group that wants to talk to you and stick to them as long as you all enjoy it. Then go approach other girls on your own. Then come back to them. Just like with actual friends. You shoot the shit with them and leave to chat up a girl on your own.
= Stay social = Solo game is NOT the time to post up alone and look cool with your drink. As you enter the bar, chat up someone near you as you're passing them by. Throw a situational comment. See if they bite. You never know what it will take you.
= Offer value = I think that's the key to it. Don't try to be adopted like a lost child. When you talk to someone add something to their night. Share a story or interesting fact relevant to their conversation or say some funny comment about girls demeanor / attitude / looks / smile / etc to quickly stand out. Give off the vibe you just share something positive without expecting anything, just like you would if you had a flight to some supercool place in the morning, you'd feel at ease just socializing.
in addition:
if you want to make it smooth then try this. get into whatever venue you want alone and sober and pretend you're looking for your friends. you go in, explore the whole venue, look around A LOT, acknowledge glances from girls with smile/waving hand/point finger at them/etc and as you walk by cute girl(s) or pass them by chat them up and make it spontaneous like you stop cause they peaked your interest and you got curious about something about them. then as you chat up one group/girl you can still make eye contact with other girls around and acknowledge their glances with some gesture or smile.
CRUCIAL KEY: as you're doing your round inside you have to make your move FAST and approach immediately ASAP. no lurking or waiting for some perfect moment. none of that. perfect moment is now. if you want to make like it just happened (to not be loner in a dive bar) you have to be ready to throw yourself into a situation in a milisecond. whatever you do the whole point is to make it look like you're on the move but you happen to meet some girls on your way so you stick around for a bit.
example:
you pass by a girl, she gets your attention for 2 seconds, you chat up...
"hey excuse me ladies, do you have sister [to the girl you like]?? you look so similar to blablabla...." or "hey excuse me have you seen a girl here who looked like xyz [describe some bomb ass chick], kind of like you but taller/younger... blablabla?" she's like "whaaat??!!" all sassy/pissed/standoffish/taken aback haha. you go "whoa you got some temper i like it maybe i should stay with you, who are you? blablabla.. so have you seen her? what, you don't like girls? everybody like girls! you would fall in love with her instantly you hear me? INSTANTLY haha". she's getting more emotional cause you talk about other girl and dissing her. all good. talk talk talk. if they ask you who you're with tell them you got invited for a night out [social proof] but your cell phone battery died so you will probably end up having fun on your own etc. when they ask you to have a shot/beer you tell you're on the last day of some weird strict diet challenge. talk talk talk. you still check out others in the venue, you see a girl subtly glancing at you, you smile back to her. talk talk talk. then "excuse me ladies i think i saw someone i know see ya later" and you can walk up to that next girl. if it fails you can go back to that first group.
this way you can check any kind of venue in very short time being sober/solo. IMO the time before first approach is kind of sink or swim thing. there is really no room for procrastination going solo/sober in small venues where drinking with friends is expected.
i experimented with procrastinating on purpose in small dive bars by walking in, loooking around, posting up alone and getting on my phone texting to buy some time, spot cute ladies and assess how to approach them. with every second i was getting more and more inside my head and weird and lame. somehow i didn't project that on girls i finally approached and it went ok. overall, it's not that bad when you'r well groomed and you look good.