avoiding confrontations

[Navers]

I play a home game, it's a $5 buy-in (everyone starts with T500) and generally we have 8 players. It's relatively loose. I try to stay tight, but when I get in a hand its hard to avoid confrontational situations early in the tournament. For example, I have pocket tens, raise 3x BB, and on the flop someone with a flush draw will raise to 50 (5x BB). I knew I was up, but I either had to raise a lot or fold, and with loose players sometimes i think it costs too much to protect a hand, but when I end up doing it I lose.


Another example is shortstack goes all-in. I have pocket queens (T450)and knowing he'd go in with a big range of hands, I move all-in and get called by AKo by medium stack. This is when there were 6 players left out of 8. Do I protect my hand? Let it go? Are there any general guidelines about how much to risk earlier in the tournament?

Any comments would be appreciated.