I checked preflop and made the smallish bet on the flop in an attempt to keep the pot small. Villain had pushed in this same situation earlier in the tourney and I folded...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: ITH Forums)

UTG (t1030)
MP1 (t2530)
MP2 (t3005)
CO (t1725)
Villain (t1275)
SB (t1846)
Hero (t4030)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
UTG calls t50, 1 fold, MP2 calls t50, 1 fold, Villain) calls t50, 1 fold, Hero checks.

Flop: (t225) , , (4 players)
Hero bets t150, UTG calls t150, MP2 folds, villain raises to t1225, Hero ?????

Fold. You're obviously a better player than this guy. That's a ridiculous bet after limping with his stack on the button. I'd probably only call this off with Aces or better. I'm pretty sure you're not outkicked and I'm thinking he limped with deuces. A-rag with 2 clubs is a possiblity, but you can chip up in position being the aggressor.

This was a freeroll and I like your flop bet but losing 1000 here means more than gaining 2400 and there's a lot of uncertainty an coinflip possibilties with the straight and flush draws out there. Folding AK here isn't -EV because you have a really nice stack for this level and the next to play around with and chip up to the final table with positional PF and flop aggression. This is where the pots are cheapest to jab at. This is a 45-man SnG and you have the chips to small-pot your way to the top.

You don't need to play a big pot here. He does and if he has K9, it's a good push for him.

Also, most importantly, UTG isn't folding.

I took a while before I made my decision on this hand. I took the following into consideration:
Villain was a tight player. He was seeing very few flops and then folding on the flop. The only hand he played to the river was 66. He limped preflop then called a 3/4 pot bet with J55 on the flop. He then checked to the river.

Villain had (Just a few hands ago) pushed to my probe bet on a 772 flop. I folded to that raise as I had A2s. This was the only raise he had made until this hand. He had made one bet(a min bet that was called and then he folded on the river.) In other words, completely out of character.

His raise made me very suspicious as he was a very passive player up to this point. I think he's making a move. I don't think he has AA, KK, TT, or AK because he didn't raise preflop. (Even most donks raise these.) I don't see him playing T2 or K2 at this point either. Because of his passive tendency, I don't see him pushing with FD or SD. The only hands I'm fearing here are KT and 22. He knows that I am aggressive, so I can see him slowplaying these hands.

I agree that I don't need to play a big pot (as I was intentionally trying to keep it small), but I just have this nagging feeling that he was trying to steal the pot.
Edit: Removing results for others to take a stab at...

Your read on villian is he's a TA = mouse but one that raises up and roars with a push for the 2nd time against you - a self-confessed aggressive. I'll assume a Semi-loose Aggressive based on your post and discripsion of your play and style.

So what makes a mouse rise up and roar with a all-in push rather than playing out the hand? Possibilities that come to mind are:
1. Top pair-weak kicker looking for a quick win;
2. K-T or 22 for best hands but afraid of the flush/str8 draw so makes the draw as expesive as possible; or
3. he has a moderate to good hand but figures he might get outplayed by a better/more aggressive player with a larger stack - best defense, go all-in and hope for his opps to fold but otherwise let the cards decide.
4. He's inexperienced, watches too many tourneys on TV and figures that is what your supposed to do with a powerful hand!

If my read was TA and I already had UTG calling my lead bet, I'm thinking my hand may be only 2nd best now and likley 3rd best by the river!! No way would I think he's putting a move on vs 2 opps unless he was a LAA and donkey enough to think he could get away with it from a lead bettor and caller! Tuf and reluctant fold - there are other battles and plenty of time.

PS - with UTG and botton limping I would encourage a preflop raise with especially since you were chip leader and could afford to pressure the limpers - it also makes bluffing a flopped ace so much easier. For an aggressive player and CL, limping pf was a possible/probable mistake!

Originally Posted by Aces-o-8s

PS - with UTG and botton limping I would encourage a preflop raise with especially since you were chip leader and could afford to pressure the limpers - it also makes bluffing a flopped ace so much easier. For an aggressive player and CL, limping pf was a possible/probable mistake!

I had 4 reasons for checking (not limping) preflop.

1. I wanted to keep the pot small. Remember, this is a $1 tournament. These players are not folding to a raise from me, unless I raise more than I probably should.
2. Being in the BB, I'm seeing a free flop.
3. Since SB folded, I have to act first
4. It adds deception to my hand.

This early in the tourney, I almost never bluff... especially bluff that I have an ace. These donks (generally) will play any ace. If it pairs, they are going to showdown with it. Bluffing an ace this early in the game is just giving away chips.

There is another hand that should be brought up... I am a 55-45 underdog to on the flop.