 The word that arose in the 1700s was sharp. Someone is a card sharp. Card sharp with a K came later. They used to call them card sharps because if someone was playing a card game, but they were getting a little sweaty about it. They're playing a little too hard. They're trying too hard to win. They would be considered sharp play. You ever play a game with your friends where like you're playing settlers and people get mad if you do the obvious smart thing instead of being nice with everybody else? Like, oh, put the rover in the desert. There's some nonsense like that.