Why would a guy act this way?

I used to have a friend, not anymore, who let you know he was looking at me smiling, would try to make conversation, said stuff that was kind of flirty but he said it was misconstrued for something else, but said in the end he was looking for a match. I found him to be very confusing. He was a flirt with other women. I found it very hard to believe he was interested. Is this just a game?