play games

/P L EY1 G EY0 M Z/
verb
  1. 1

    To deceive; to lie about one's intentions.

    โ€œ"Accusing Governor Carey of playing games with taxpayers in his $12.7 billion budget, the Senate majority leader, Warren M. Anderson of Binghamton, said today that it would face rough sledding, in the Republican led State Senate." - New York Times, 1979โ€

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/play%20games