Thoughts "It's All in the Game"?

Watching Columbo for the first time so it's the first time watching this episode from season 10.

I have to say we didn't like this one. The motive seemed a bit weak (no spoilers), but surely you'd go to the police first rather than resorting to murder.

We've felt a lot of the 90s episodes are quite cheesy, but the flirting in this one was just weird and really un-Columbo. I notice Peter Falk wrote this episode and wonder if that had something to do with this story line? :D...

Edit: Thought's about "It's All in the Game"