You may have been the recipient of many a game played and known the odd player, but what is the difference?
A game player is someone who sets out literally with a game plan to snare you. Sadly these games if discovered can go horribly wrong. Women are master game players but that is because they are subtler and their games are not so elaborate as those of a man.
A player on the other hand is someone who likes to keep their options open and may have a few balls (not least his own) in the air at one time.
The only good thing re the game player is that at least he's got you at the heart of the game whereas a player always has himself. The worst game playing I received was in 1996 and it was mighty interesting to observe. After several 'games' I informed the gamer that I knew what he was doing and could he stop it now.
The gamer in question was a male friend (we never dated) and one of his games involved telling me he was going to live abroad. Reason being to see if I begged him not to go. That never happened though as I just thought he was being irresponsible as he had no money and being a 'missionary' didn't really suit his personality. Which as a convicted drug dealer was a bit of a stretch. Sure he wasn't dealing anymore but a missionary? He wasn't inside that long!
Then there was the time I made some comment about not wanting to be in love as it hurt too much. This was not aimed at him, it was a general comment. Later he was telling me about Chinese proverbs. Chinese proverb say 'better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' followed by gazing deeply into my eyes. Erm not a Chinese proverb but nice try!
This seems like very minor evidence of game playing but you had to be there and when confronted with it, he didn't deny it.
So what of the players? I am lucky not to have crossed paths with many of those. But this new world of Internet Dating opens up new windows of opportunity for them to evolve. Unlike the real world, where a man or woman may not be so bold as to ask a person for a date very often, courtesy of the internet and the anonymity of a blank screen, you can ask anything from 0 to 200 (I'm limiting this due to time!) women or men out a day. This is when it becomes a numbers game. Ask 200, maybe 5 will accept.
Also just when you think you've found your match, another more suitable match crosses your screen. Can't let that one slip through the net, and before you know it, all those balls are up in the air.
Better catch one though, lest you just end up in a ball pool on your own and no one to play with!