Making a play against the chip leader

[EnderW27]

Six players left in a $20 SnG.
The relevant stacks are:

Me in BB, $1320
Chip leader, UTG $2150
LP: $1170

They both limp to me with A-7o.
I check.
350 in the pot as the blinds are 50/100.

Flop comes down: [ Qc, 7c, 5d ]

I have middle pair. I check to see what the limpers want to do.
Chip leader bets 300. LP folds.
Now it's back to me.

The chip leader hasn't shown himself to be particularly tricky, but there are a wide range of hands he could be betting here. A straight draw (this one seems slim), a flush draw is out there. KQ overcards just trying to pick up the pot, middle or bottom pair...or heck, just an out and out bluff because he's the chip leader and can try things like that.

So I have a decision. Maybe he does have a queen but there's only six of us left and only three in the pot. The liklihood is much better he has a worse hand than I do.

I raise it to 800. He thinks for a minute and calls.

Turn comes the Ac, completing a possible flush. I push for 420 more.
He calls.
River is a blank. He's got a QJ and it loses to my A7.

He then procedes to berate me.
"Wow...unbelievable...online players are so bad!" he says throughout the next hand.

I agree. I don't like my play. I think if I'm going to make that play, I really should have pushed.

If I push I don't give a flush draw good odds. I think that maaaaybe he'd lay down QJ there as well. In general, once I make the play, I'm pot committed anyway. Strangely, though, by not raising all in, I did give myself a chance to fold on the turn without improvement (despite being nearly pot committed) because I'm more certain now that he has the queen.

In general, I think it's bad luck he did have a queen, and good luck I improved. But I still think my check raise is ok. I'd feel like such a wimp folding in that situation just because the chip leader is trying to take a pot that might not belong to him.

What do you think? How should the flop have been played?

[Nak]

It seems like you don't want him to call your raise. If he calls your raise, you are probably beat. So, I would either fold or make a bigger raise hoping not to get called, but then you have to make a big raise with second pair. Even chip leaders (the scoundrels) hit TPGK sometimes.

Nak

[Robk]

I think betting the flop is worth more consideration. Your hand is strong against two limpers, but collectively they are usually drawing very live against you. Hands with two overcards to your pair will be forced out by a bet, but will often take a free card if you check. If you check a large semibluff/ bluff may force you to fold the best hand. Also betting is relatively cheap compared to the checkraising play you make, as a 200 chip bet may be enough, but your checkraise committed 800 chips (essentially your whole stack as it's tought to fold this hand so pot committed, when he could have a draw). If you bet and are called/raised, you can often stay out of trouble and make a good fold or get a cheap showdown.

Btw I don't have much experience at this limit but from what I've seen I think top pair folding to your checkraise is extremely unlikely.

[Nak]

Good point. A small bet at this flop might be a good idea. Let's pretend that I put this in my post. Hehe.

Nak

[ChuckNorris]

You're risking T800, and with it a nice stack in a SnG, to win T650. You're also giving you're opponent pretty good odds to call, if he was for example betting with a flush draw.

I don't know how often this play could work, but it seems way too risky to me. I'd just bet the flop.

If he would've just minibet, which to me looks more like trying to "pick up the pot" than betting the pot, I might raise it to 300. But since I would've just bet the flop in the first place, that's hypothetical.