[Lloyd]

5-handed and getting shortstacked, I will raise 100% of the time here with 99. Doesn't matter if your UTG. Shorthanded this is like opening from late MP and 99 is very strong. You can limp with 99 early in a tournament because if you're raised 1) it doesn't cost a lot to throw the hand away if you want to; 2) you usually have odds to call a raise just for set value; 3) at this point the blinds are so big relative to your stack that you'd like to win them pre-flop.

With the BB raising you can see the problem of limping at these blind levels. You're putting in 1/3 of your stack. If I'm going to play, I'd go ahead and push and try and get heads up with the BB. He could have just been trying to own the limpers. He could give you credit for an even bigger hand.

With 2500 in the pot and 2000 behind I'd find it awfully hard not to push the flop. Again, this is another problem created by passively playing this hand pre-flop. You really don't have much of a clue where you're at. You've got 1 too many people in the hand. But stack sizes and increasing blinds dictate a push.