SB vs. BB Nearing money in $15 NL on Paradise

[Mr. D]

So we're nearing the money in this 500+ player tournament, but still nowhere near the serious money. Blinds are 600/1200 w/ 75 ante. I've got 18000 in chips after winning a couple recent pots and now have one of the bigger stacks at the table. I'm dealt 58 (suits unimportant) in the BB. SB seems to be a solid player who has shown some aggression. He has me covered by a little bit. Its folded around to SB who completes. I check my trash (anyone like a steal here?) and the flop comes down Q 5c 3c and the SB min-bets 1200. I decide that since I hit a pair, I ought to find out if it is good, so I bump it up to 3600 total and he quickly repops me the minimum allows bet of 2400 more. I've been acting slowly the whole time. Now it seems like I'm beat here, but not drawing dead. The pot is something like 12000 and I just read harrinton on hold'em and I'm thinking those are huge pot odds. So I decided to call and see if I hit another 5 or an 8 (what is that 5 outs? maybe I didn't have the odds). The turn comes off a non-club 2 and the small blind quickly bets 2400. Now I'm staring at 17000 pot and 2400 bet.. even better odds. But I start thinking about maintaining my still fairly nice sized stack and I'm wondering if maybe he doeas have me drawing dead. So I wussed out and folded.. feeling horrible that I probably just gave away 1/3 of my stack to someone who outplayed me. So how much of a weak/loose idiot am I? Should I have made a big move somewhere? Maybe just called the min-bet on the flop? Not called the re-raise? I am committed to hang around for 2400 once I go to the turn?

Thanks!

Edit: I should note that my image is probably tight agressive, but maybe LAG to the short-sighted player. I'd been in push or fold mode for a few orbits, then I doubled up somewhere with an AK and had been more agressive in the last couple orbits. Tried to steal with a 3x BB bet and then took it down with a continuation bet. Then most recently I had limped in from small blind with Ax suited and pushed into a large field of about 5 players when I flopped the nut flush draw. When I pushed my stack was about the size of the pot. I got called by the 2nd nut flush draw, who also went all-in and I won it with Ace high. This is where I'd gotten most of my fairly big stack. So my image may have been a little more on the LAG side, though it depends on how far back the other players are remembering. I'd been at this table for quite awhile and played conservatively earlier.

[Lurshy]

Nice narrative post, but please use paragraphs in the future. Very hard to read.

My take, With an aggressive/solid SB, I am wary of the limp. If had a mediocre hand or a poor hand, he probably raises or folds. The limp can mean he just limped with weakness (and he may or may not have caught) or he has a strong hand and is trying to induce action.

A raise pf, may take it down, or you can easily fold to reraise. The problem with hitting a weak pair with no kicker, is you may easily have a 2nd best hand, or a hand that can't improve much. This is true even heads up.

You need to decide quickly wether you are marrying the hand. Repopping it strongly on the flop, or letting go.

I fold to his re-raise on the flop.

[Lurshy]

My original reply was before your edit.

If my image is LAG, I need to be wary of people setting traps for me, getting me to overplay a hand and bluff into a strong hand. Against a LAG I look for a big hand and set a trap. When my image is lag, and I have built my stack, I try and wait for a bigger hand. I know I will get action, I don't need to get action with 58 post flop. Trying to steal PF would have been fine. I still don't like the post flop action.

No reason to get into a battle of the blinds right now.