[sthief09]

Hand 1 I don't like at all. I'm sure that a lot of people will say, "oh you have 99! call!" I don't I don't think you're in a good position to play any small to medium pair, because you have someone between you and the PFR. It's going to be tough to play because that guy in the middle will likely be getting correct drawing odds to overcards, so it'll be tough to get it headsup. On the contrary, your relative position for a set is pretty good, because you can trap that cold caller. If there was another cold caller I'd be all for calling, but given that there's only one cold caller you'll probably have to win without a set sometimes, and it's tough in this situation. If there was a limper and then a raiser, I'd be more apt to call there.

On the flop, there are 4 players in the pot. you might or might not be ahead. Then there's a bet and a call. I'd just call there. You're only protecting your hand from one person, and there are no draws present, so I don't know if it's worth playing aggressively. This might, though, be a good spot to gain information. When you get called in 3 spots, you have to start worrying that you aren't ahead. Given this, I like the way you played the rest of the hand. you're probably against a T.

So, to conclude it, I'd have folded preflop (which most others won't agree with, I'm sure), and just called the flop.

Hand 2 is close. TT is a pretty automatic 3-bet, but this is a spot where raising doesn't have many advantages. It just bloats the pot, and there's very little chance of anyone other than the poster and the blinds folding.