UTG with 99

I was playing NL .50/$1 ring game. I was UTG and picked up pocket 9's. I called the $1 blind which is typical for me because I try to see the flop cheap to see if I can catch the set when I have lower and middle pocket pairs. The player behind me raised to $2 and 3 others called. I didn't like the idea of of being in early position and 1 of 5 in the pot with only 9's so I raised the pot $10 thinking I might buy it and at the very least get 2 or 3 of the others to fold. In this case they all folded but I was wondering was this a very good play?

I think it was a very aggressive move and it worked. I agree you did not want 9s to go against 4 other players. I actually like that you did not see a flop and got everyone to fold. You really did not want to see a flop and you won a decent pot with just the preflop action.

I think it was about the right size bet to scare most of the others out of the pot.

Great move! Chances are when you are faced with more than two players with pocket nines, there is a slim chance you are going to win even if you do hit your set. Raising was a good move becuase it would probably eliminate the majority of the players who called. Instead, you won the pot without seeing the pot. Good job!

Great move when it works bad when it doesn't!I actually think it was a nice play.

First: I think a small raise to begin with (instead of a limp) UTG would have been safer. You don't want to risk some folks feeling pot-commited before you reraise.
Second: The only time I'd make any raise at all w/99 UTG is after I've been at the table long enough to know the type of players I'm dealing with and enough time to establish a table image. If I don't know it's a loose table and try this, I could be dead meat. Or if I've been previously caught bluffing and now no one believes my raises, dead meat. Also, the risk here is that you never know when you have run up against opps with higher pocket pairs that are itching to be raised. Later position would be better to try this.

I think you got lucky here.

U limped in UTG and then raised the size of the pot the other players were probly guessing that you had a big pair or AK, which had their small pair or weak ace beat, nice play