I accompanied Hobby to the shipyard at San Pedro for an inspection of his new super-yacht, which would be named Lazybuns II. In the past if he needed work done he would have sailed to a less expensive yard in Ensenada, Mexico. Hobby had acquired the new vessel from a wealthy Mexican of dubious character who had attempted to undo the transaction. It involved a high-stakes poker game and a forced buyout for much less than the ship's value.

When Hobby and I went aboard the yacht in San Diego, where it had been docked, we were locked up and taken out to sea. Fortunately, my earlier alerts to the Coast Guard and the DEA initiated an interception. The Mexicans were taken into custody, but later released through diplomatic intervention. They protested, saying that the kidnapping was "just a misunderstanding." With the bad guy on the loose, it didn't seem prudent to venture into his backyard.

Hobby's first mate, Mike, greeted us when we came aboard. He had surveyed the vessel with the shipyard chief the day before and handed Hobby a clipboard with extensive lists. "The first two pages are items that need immediate repair; the next two pages are items that can be postponed, and the last page is suggested improvements."

While Hobby studied the lists I asked Mike, "What's your take; did Hobby make a good deal?"

"No question he made a good deal, but it's going to take some big bucks to get it to first class condition. I don't think Hobby would want anything less."

"Any idea how much it will all cost?"

"I'll leave that to the shipyard folks; I might be way off."

We met in the office with the engineering and construction people. I sat and listened as they discussed each line item. When they finished Hobby asked, "What's the bottom line for the needed repairs?"

"Our rough estimate at this time is about $700,000. It could be more once we start pulling things apart."

"Not bad," Hobby said, "I thought it would be more; how about the rest of the items?"

"They could run as much as a half-million."

"Hmm, about a million-two, not bad. I want to do it all. Mike will work out the details with you." Hobby took out his checkbook and made a deposit.

"You seem pleased, Hobby," I said as we drove onto the I-10 and headed east.

"You betcha, Joe. This is the dreamboat of my life. Even with all the repairs and upgrades I'm saving about three mil. I'm absolutely thrilled. It'll take a couple months, but when she's ready I want to take a big cruise. Why don't you start thinking of an interesting place, somewhere we can have fun and play poker!"

"How long a cruise?"

"Maybe about a month?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll give it some study, Captain Hobby."

We were silent for a while, probably both thinking where we might go on the maiden cruise. Hobby interrupted my vision of tropical islands saying, "Joe, do you remember me telling you about my strategy for playing tournaments?"

"Let me think, it seems like you've had a lot of them. Which one would that be?"

"It's the hawk and turtle. When I have a good stack of chips with a good hand and position I'm like a ruthless hawk and take big bites out of my opponents. If I get short-stacked, I become a turtle and hunker down in my shell to hold out as long as possible until I have an opportunity to score."

"Ah, yes, I remember your iconic scheme. Has it been working?"

"You saw what I did at the Bike a couple weeks ago; I picked up almost 80K."

"That was memorable; do you credit your win to your system, or was it just good luck."

"It was certainly a bit of both, but I never would have made the recovery after taking a bad beat early on if I hadn't turtled-up. That tournament was certainly the high spot of my recent play, but I haven't done so well with on-line play lately."

"Tell me about it."

"It's like a virus infection has struck me. Too often I've been losing with dumb plays, trying to run a bluff and getting wiped out. I really know better, but in the heat of the moment I get carried away. It's like my thinking is contaminated. Got any advice?"

"Gee, Hobby, if there was a cure for being dumb the world would be a different place."

"I'm serious, Joe."

"Let me think about it." We traveled the rest of the way back to Palm Springs in silence until Hobby said, "Shall we go to LeRoy's for lunch?"

"Good idea, I'd love one of their strip steaks on garlic bread."

"It's on me if you can come up with an idea to solve my problem."

We had ordered our steak sandwiches when Hobby said, "Do you want to share a bottle of wine?"

"Well, since this is on you if I come up with a good idea, which I think I have, let's go for something exotic. It's a beer, but it's expensive."

"No problem, Joe. I think I can afford a beer or two."

"We better share just one; it's Sam Adams Utopia, 27 percent alcohol. It goes for $200 a bottle."

"Oh, wow, I'll go for it, but you better deliver."

"Hobby, you're strongly influenced by your icons, the hawk and turtle. They're good positive symbols that work for you. But now you need an icon to remind you not to make stupid plays. I wracked my brain trying to come up with something appropriate, and I've got it-a blowfish."

"A blowfish?"

"Yes, when a blowfish is confronted he expands his small body so it looks big and menacing. He's bluffing, of course. Many of his enemies know this and gobble him up. You just have to keep that image in your mind when tempted."

Write to author David Valley at: dvalley1@san.rr.com