Just so men no women may sometimes play a little game, like I did when I was younger. It’s called don’t bring your wallet and see how drunk you can get for free! This was a game I played when I was in college but some women my age still have similar games.

Take your time and feel it out with a woman to see if she is worth the investment.

If you are already engaged in a conversation with a woman, if you can read signs of interest (sexual or otherwise), if there’s good rapport and she seems to be genuinely enjoying your company (and you’re enjoying hers), then it’s worth considering. So, in the midst of this stimulating conversation, her drink runs out. She looks to the bartender. She needs a re-fill. If you want the conversation to continue, offer to replace her drink.

If, when her drink ran out, she looked at you expectantly, re-assess the situation. But, if she really seems like a cool chick who you’d like to get to know better, it may be worth risking the $10 or so. The same way cleavage and hair-twirling can indicate interest on the part of a woman, buying a drink can be a great way to show her you’re interested, too.

It could explain how some men appear to have won a woman over by buying a drink when the woman was just waiting for him to get up the courage to approach and she liked him anyway.
In this case, it could show him as a capable provider, wrather than a drink being a bribe.

There are obvious signs, like a woman moving into your line of sight and then playing with her hair. There are also subtle ones that can be pieced together, like her feet/shoulders pointed towards you (while she’s engaged in something else) or her eyes not directly looking at you but out of focus (indicating a concentration on peripheral vision).