The Nines

How could I have forgotten? During the $5K guarantee KO game I was dealt 9 9 in the small blind (15/30). I was the second-largest chip stack at the table, with about 4,500. Four of the six others were between 570 and 1,900. Short-stacked UTG went all-in for 570, the button called (leaving 1,070 behind), and I called. The flop was 6 K 9. Pocket kings had me beat, but I wasn’t too worried.  I thought I’d see how far the button was willing to go on his own, and checked. The button checked and the turn card was 6. Now pocket 6s also had me but I went all-in for almost 4K. I guess the button didn’t think I had much. He called. Then the 9 showed up on the river. When the cards went over, the small stack had K T for a higher two pair than the T A of the bigger stack, but neither beat my two pairs of nines. Two bounties and 3,880 chips.