QQ in the big blind

[Redsox]

About 1 hour into the Borgata (Atlantic City)limit hold em tournament (30 +10 buy in) a week ago. My stack is about average. I look down at Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] in the big blind. Everyone folds to the button. Button raises, small blind calls, I make 3 bets from big blind. Both call the third bet. Flop comes J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 4 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. Small blind check, I bet, button calls after thinking for about a minute. Small blind then check raises. I call, and button calls. Turn brings A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Small blind bets and I fold. Button calls. River is K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Both check, and SB shows AJo and button takes the pot wiht AKo. My question are, did I make a mistake by not three betting the flop, to try and get the pot heads up with the SB, and if I had three bet the flop, would you have called on the turn even with the ace on board, trying to hit a Q or a K on the river, with 18-20 small bets (depending on whether the button called the three bets on the flop)? I'm pretty new to playing poker. I've only been playing baout 8 months, but I've won 3-4 small buy in tournaments in AC and reached about 15 or so final tables. Recently I've been struggling with no cashes in my last 10 tournaments , and I'm starting to wonder if I'm playing too passively. I've been going through a string of fairly rough beats, and I think I've been changing my older, more aggressive style. Any help would be great. Thanks. Eric