Here are 2 hands where I was dealt pocket 99's - I don't know if I screwed up or did I get screwed or I did well in both situations...

would appreciate your help.



Hand#1



Full Tilt - $0.25 NL RUSH - Holdem - 9 players



BB: $25.00

UTG: $19.80

UTG+1: $9.15

MP: $44.92

MP+1: $28.23

LP: $22.54

Hero (CO): $25.68

BTN: $22.04

SB: $40.10



SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25



Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero has 9s 9d



fold, fold, fold, MP+1 raises to $0.75, LP calls $0.75, Hero calls $0.75, fold, SB raises to $2.75, fold, fold, LP calls $2.00, Hero calls $2.00



I decided to call hoping to connect on the board and then make a move. Do you think I should have raised or re-raised pre folp? Since SB raised PreFlop he could easily be holding AK - AA KK QQ JJ TT - so I decided to just call.



Flop: ($9.25, 3 players) 7s 4d Ts

SB bets $4.50, fold, Hero raises to $9.00, SB raises to $37.35 and is all-in, fold



After the flop SB bets and I decided to make sure he has something - so I re-raised him twice his original raise. Usually I make at least 2.5-3 times the RR, but this time I decided to min raise him for some reason I don't myself understand fully, may be because he had already lead out and I wanted to save money. Do you think my RR should have been more?

SB then decided to move ALL-In on me... and I was done with the hand.



SB wins $25.89



Do you think I could have played this hand any better? How - any feedback is appreciated.



Following is the 2nd Hand with 99's



Full Tilt - $0.25 NL RUSH - Holdem - 9 players



CO: $15.41

BTN: $25.00

SB: $34.80

BB: $17.34

UTG: $9.81

UTG+1: $19.14

MP: $36.24

Hero (MP+1): $23.09

LP: $54.81



SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25



Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero has 9h 9s



fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.85, LP calls $0.85, CO calls $0.85, fold, SB raises to $3.50, fold, fold, fold, fold



SB wins $3.65



Being in MP1, I decided to play the same hand differently, by raising - may be I should have limped here, as I had other calling stations behind me - since the format was RUSH, I didn't know I had them behind me… LP and CO both called and thats the reason I think SB raised so much, because 2 other people had called my RAISE - since the pot was now bloated, SB decided to steal.



How else do you think I could have played this hand?

Do you think I should have called to see the flop?

would love to hear from anyone… thanks in advance for your feedback. Appreciate it.