[BluffTHIS!]

Let's look at all the factors in this all too familiar and posted about situation:

1) unraised pot - no reason to go broke with anything less than a great hand on a great flop

2) OOP - add this to above, which means anyone could have anything, then this means check and not build a pot. The problem is that with every card that comes that doesn't help you, you won't know if it really helped someone in position either, or if they are just bluffing or betting a similar/worse 9. This is especially true when you have built a pot and the river comes another card that doesn't help you or an opponent and you are exposed to either a bet or a bluff raise, and won't know if is by a hand that beats you or not.

So in an unraised pot OOP, just check and fold unless against a super short stack who has bet perhaps. Even in a raised pot, the right thing with several players here would be to check and peel one card. If it helps then bet the turn or c/f (or c/r someone you are sure would bet). But again, being OOP sucks because if you fill the turn and a higher card you don't have comes on the river, then again you are exposed to being bluffed or making a bad call.

3) sidecards - in the specific situation as mentioned above, one player has 55 and the other one has the other 9 almost surely. So you can't currently beat 55, and are basically gambling with the other 9 to see who can hit a kicker that is good, assuming you don't both brick and dump to 55. And another important factor is that you only have 1 overcard, which means that if you hit on the turn you can be drawn out on on the river, and you can't beat the other 9 if all he has is an A kicker and you both miss.


So yes the answer is you should have passed, even if you actually won the pot.