play ducks and drakes with someone

To treat one poorly, dishonestly, or with flippant disregard. They started playing ducks and drakes with their opponents toward the end of the game. I thought that there were the makings of a serious relationship, but lately it's felt like he's just playing ducks and drakes with me.

If someone plays ducks and drakes with people, they treat them badly by being dishonest with them or not taking them seriously. He accepted the ceasefire conditions, but since then has been playing ducks and drakes with the United Nations. Note: `Ducks and drakes' is the game of throwing flat stones across the surface of some water to see how many times you can make the stones bounce. In this expression, the person's attitude to others is perhaps being compared to someone idly and thoughtlessly throwing stones.