Ehm ... me has a kicker problem (NL50)

UTG smells kinda fishy. Limping a lot, raising nothing. But fairly aggressive after the flop.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

UTG ($57.35)
UTG+1 ($38.75)
MP1 ($48.30)
MP2 ($33.25)
MP3 ($20)
CO ($42.75)
Button ($34)
SB ($50)
Hero ($50.50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 9.
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $0.50, 4 folds, Hero checks.

Flop: ($1.75) 9, T, 9 (4 players)
Hero bets $1.25, UTG calls $1.25, MP1 calls $1.25.

Turn: ($5.50) K (4 players)
Hero bets $4.2, UTG raises to $8.4, MP1 folds, Hero calls $4.20.

River: ($22.30) 4 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

Final Pot: $22.30

One, two ... don't know what to do. I called his minraise hand he checked it down. But what to do against:
- a bigger raise on the turn (maybe $12)
- a big bet on the river (maybe $20)

In those scenarios, fold and fold IMO....QJ squarely in the range, as well as every other 9x that beats you.

call the minraise, check down isn't so bad as played. looks like he had something like 89/79...or a KJish type hand that didn't think you had a 9.

i like how you played the hand.
bet flop and turn nicely. then got some resistance on the turn and then lost a small pot.

i think calling turn and checking the river is a good plan. it keeps the pot small and under control. you do have an ok hand. if he bets pot on river i think you should fold. but it all depends on how donkish he is.

if he raises to $12 on the turn, i think you should call because you said he is fishy and aggro post flop.
if he then bets $20, i think you should fold. it's unlikely he's bluffing and most of his possible hands beat you.
the worst hand he could have is a busted flush, busted straight. a random bluff or something like AA played really badly. but those are unlikely.
more likely, he has a straight, a boat, KT, or bigger trips than you.
i think if he bets $20 on the river as played you should probably fold. he just isn't bluffing in this spot. it would be a really weird, stupid and random place to bluff.

if you think he's the sort of player to bluff in that spot then you obviously have to call.

thinking about this hand again. if you were up against a solid player, do you even call a pot sized raise on the turn? there's not much we can beat - if anything at all.

in our case i think we played it fine though because villain minraises turn which is weak. could be trying some kind of protection for his T and be hoping for a free showdown. or maybe he has a pair (either a T or a K) with a flush draw or str draw

btw. i advice playing $100NL soon. like when you reach $2.5k BR. I think waiting for a $5k is way too much. $3k max IMO

I didn't even realized I'm in bad shape vs. QJ

@PRA:
I played LHE SH & SnGs for years now and started NL just a month ago. So it's not a bankroll problem (I just seperated 2k from my bankroll for NL only), more the lack of confidence.
I'd like to win 30 stacks @ NL50 (for 3.5k total) to get some more experience.