In the best Columbo episodes you initially are baffled how he seems able to sniff out the murderer, but then he reveals what he picked up on and it all makes sense. In this episode there's no clear killer motive and the main thing that gets Columbo on the trail seems to be that Paul Hanlon (Culp) isn't angry about the poor performance of his team in the game. Unusual, yes but it remains a large leap. The weak motive and large logic leaps make this one particularly flawed.
However there's two great performances that make it work, first is Culp, who is a clever murderer, who doesn't try to steer Columbo unnecessarily. He simply remains cagey and elusive. The second is Valerie Harper as Eve Babcock. Who delights as a call girl, then reveals a slight Hungarian accent when Columbo pushes her too far allowing him to supposedly get the information needed to confirm his suspicions Hanlon knew the phone was bugged. It's a great single scene performance.
Overall a fun episode just struggled to buy it completely.
However there's two great performances that make it work, first is Culp, who is a clever murderer, who doesn't try to steer Columbo unnecessarily. He simply remains cagey and elusive. The second is Valerie Harper as Eve Babcock. Who delights as a call girl, then reveals a slight Hungarian accent when Columbo pushes her too far allowing him to supposedly get the information needed to confirm his suspicions Hanlon knew the phone was bugged. It's a great single scene performance.
Overall a fun episode just struggled to buy it completely.