A preflop question. Party 15/30.

[Lestat]

I fold nines here quite often. The way I look at it is this..

This is not a steal or even a showdown situation yet. It's not always enough to have UTG beat. There are 8 other players yet to be heard from --PLUS UTG might have you beat--.

There are many bad flops for 99 and if you get players behind you, the hand becomes more difficult to play in a biggish pot. I agree with you that most here will disagree with me, but I don't feel I give up too much by folding here. Of course, there are other factors to consider. If the game is overly loose or aggressive, then 99 can quickly become too much hand to fold.