On the first hand, if your sense is that the early position raiser will only be raising with premium hands, folding the 99 is correct. You're in middle position. If someone calls behind you (or worse, reraises), your sandwiched in between with a tough hand to play.


In the second hand, with 3 players already committed to the pot, you can certainly play since the pot figures to be 5 or 6 handed.

You can get out cheap if the flop in unfavorable, but stand to win a big pot if you snag a 9.