Playing AA mid-tourney PStars $10 re-buy

[McMelchior]

I've been faring pretty poorly in the MTT lately, with an unbroken record of finishing VERY far from the money for 21 tournaments straight over the last 3 weeks. Half of it due to bad play on my side (typically under estimating the strengh of my opponents hands), one quarter lost coinflips and one quarter bad beats and suck-outs. After this evenings fiasco (547 out of 1,200 in a PStars $10 re-buy) I feel I need a reality check on the way I handle big hands. I would highly appreciate any comments or help - thank you:

I finish the re-buy period with t7,000 (slightly under average). 35 minutes later and I'm down to t5,400 after being cold-decked and not recognizing any fair stealing opportunities on the absolutely lively table (I'm one out of only 3 left of "the original crew"). At one point I open/raise from MP w/TT to t600 (3xBB); the button calls, BB re-raise to half of his stack t3,000, and I decide not to risk my stack as either a coinflip or and underdog and fold. Bbutton folds as well and BB show AKs, and I'm not sorry I folded. The average stack is up to t11,000, and I'm concerned but far from in panic mode - there are several smaller stack at my table, and the blinds are still low (t200/t100 with t25 ante).

A rampant LAG min-raises from EP, and it's folded to me in MP with Ac As. I re-raise to t1,400, BB (a lively player) who has me slightly covered cold calls, and the LAG folds. Flop comes down Tc 7c 5h and BB checks; I consider moving in but decide to give him a chance to bluff by making a "weak" looking bet of only t1,200 into the pot of t3,525. He flat calls immediately. I believe he would have raised my small be with a flush draw, and put him on something like AQ or a smaller pocket pair. I cannot exclude a flopped set, but again believe he would have moved in - there's a flush draw on the board, and if he has paid any kind of attention (you never can tell, even at this level) he might have noticed how tight I've been playing and should not expect to get more chips out of me unless I hit the turn hard. Turn comes 3c, he checks, and I move in for my last t2,800, expecting him to fold - and if he has a set I'll still have 11 outs, and if he managed to make the flush I'll have 7 outs to the nuts.

How do you like my flop bet? Should I have closed the sack here and moved in instead of being greedy and giving him a chance to suck out? For me it touches on the problem that if I get all of my chips in 3 times in a tourney as a 3:1 favorite I'm actually a 2:3 dog to survive ... is it (especially at these low buy-in where LAGs flourish) a more prudent strategy to try to take a small pot down as a big favorite than creating a big pot as a smaller favorite?

Best,

McMelchior (Johan)

Result in white (for those who care): <font color="white"> He calls and flips over 9c 9h, and hits his two-outer on the river.</font>