first off, wtg on your success thus far, keep it up. now:

1st: Yes, it is much more difficult to steal preflop, because obviously, with 4 starting cards, preflop standards are a little more lax, and people are willing to see more flops.

2nd: if I play AK-xx i'd like the xx to be 78,89,9T, even better if i'm double suited, but mostly it depends on position.
as far as 8899, etc... goes, most of the time i will see flops with 2 pair in my hand, because of the increased set opportunities, and chance to get paid off nicely.
789T is one of my favorite hands to play, for the same reasons i like suited connectors in NLHE- if i miss the flop, they're easy to get away from, and i have a ton of straight opportunities with it.
Just my opinions, and i admit i play looser than most, so it'd probably be good to get steve-o's two cents, along with others