Bite Me, Monday

So I've been sitting here for awhile, trying to think of something vaguely interesting and/or poker-related. And boy howdy, am I ever failing miserably.

I actually didn't play too much poker this weekend. What little I did play was on Absolute, wonder of wonders. I've been depositing to build up reward points for the bigger freerolls they're running, so I thought what the hell, and ended up clearing a little bonus money there. I'm always a bit surprised when I play there, as I don't think the site deserves the bad rap it gets at times. Yeah, the software is no bueno, yeah, bonus money doesn't clear at Party rates, yeah, there aren't 282,183 players online at any given time. But it's not THAT bad and they hand out bonuses like so much Monopoly money.

The only poker nugget I can extract from this weekend is that calling stations like to call. No, really. They're not ever going to fold that third pair (or fourth pair, or fifth pair). No amount of betting will get them to lay down their hand, if they catch the tiniest sliver of the board. It's a matter of principle for them, not volume. The decision to call or not is solely based on whether they have a pair of any sort, with no consideration whatsoever given to the size of the bet they face. For some reason I have the hardest time with dedicated calling stations in NL games, as I can't seem to get it through my donkey head that they will never, ever fold or be pushed off a hand.

Most of the weekend got sucked up into assorted house chores, as far as yard cleanup, house cleanup, mountains and mountains of laundry, and other assorted big-time fun activities. Really exciting stuff. Which is doubly so when you have to read about it.

Welding class was pretty damn cool yesterday, as we got to play with a plasma cutter for the first time. I've got a couple of projects in the works, including a funky clock and a frame that'll turn a huge slab of leftover patio stone into a coffee table/bench. Probably a coffee table, as it looks like I'll have to buy a 4x4 sheet of new steel for it, which is sort of pricy and is going to be fairly detailed, so I'm not inclined to leave it outside to rust and get shat upon by the birds that seem to think our backyard belongs to them.