I had a similar experience. I had a verbal agreement with a guy for his listed price. He calls back saying someone else was interested. He acted coy, trying to get me to offer more than his listed price. I didn't want to get into a bidding war so I just let it go. I was hoping the other guy would've done the same, but he probably bought it. I wasn't going to participate in an auction.
But consider yourself lucky. The worst buying experience for me occurred when I actually bought a game.
I had driven too far and saw the game needed a lot of work. I figured it was cheap enough and I could fix it, so I handed over the money. The seller was not a pinball guy, and very shady. As I started to break down the game, more undisclosed problems were discovered. With each discovery, I became more convinced that I'm making a mistake. I told the guy, I can't take this game, and I'd like my money back. The asshole said too late for refunds, and said he wasn't giving my money back.
I ended up feeling fortunate that I at least brought home the piece of shit game rather than just getting straight-up robbed. It was my lesson that it's better to go home without a game than buy a piece of shit because you drove an hour for it.
You don't know how shitty the game will be for the guy who won the coin toss. You came out ahead.