It was refreshing, teaching someone new the rules of the game. Katniss was very new at it, yes, but he saw potential in her. He was beating her, yes, but years of playing gave him the advantage. "We all make them, my dear, and luckily this one did not cost you your life. That would have been entirely too tragic."
He meant it, giving her a warm smile as he discarded his own card. "It does take time to accustom one's self to hunting with others. At home, we often hunted Reynard -- that is, fox -- and it is the custom to do so within a large group, on horses, with hounds helping us. I participated, but I always found it distasteful to hunt a creature that was so much more powerless than us. You will learn from this mistake, and be safer for it, I think."