tournament meltdown

[AlphaOmega 0]

with about 30 left in a $10 rebuy tournament, I'm 4th in chips with about 15k.Within about 20 hands I go bust. This isn't a whine post, I'm just looking for how to play some hands differently late in tournaments. I just kinda threw everything down so this post got kind of lengthy, but if anyone could take the time to critique my hands, critique my decisions, etc., it would be greatly appreciated.Blinds are 300-600Reads of table in general: I was semi-dominating. I averaged about 2 steals per orbit, so the table showed the ability to fold pre-flop.My stacks about 15k when I make a late position steal bet of about 1400 with 10 9 off. The person to my immediate left in the CO calls, he has about 8k chips, and everyone else folds.Flop: 4 J 9 rainbowI'm first to act, so I bet 2300 (didn't want to check and have to fold to a bluff). CO raises to 5500 and I fold. CO was just moved to the table so I have no reads on him. I was thinking maybe he puts me on a steal, so he planned to raise any flop, but leave himself with a little extra in case the plan went sour. I just didn't feel comfortable with middle pair. Next hand, a player with about 6k moves in in EP. I have about 11k with A Q off. I fold. Didn't want to get put into a coin flip, and I still had a good amount of chips to make a run at the final table.Two hands later, still sitting with 11k, I get dealt K Q off in MP. One EP limps in with a 6k stack, and I decide to bump it up to 2000. Folds around and EP calls.Flop: 4 9 8 (2 clubs)EP bets 600 into a 4900 pot. I reraise all in. I wanted to pick up the pot, and EP made a tremendously weak bet into the pot, so I felt I could get EP to fold a wide range of hands here, and even if he does have me beat, I'm still about 25% to improve if he doesn't have two pair. Unfortunately, he calls with pocket tens and I get no help.I pay my blinds and pick up K 7 suited in LP. Folds to me, and I'm sitting with about 5k and the blinds are about to go up again. I decide to attempt a steal, and push. I get called by the SB, who has pocket tens, and I don't improve, busting me out of the tournament.If this is relavent information, I wasn't stealing from people that were big/short stacked, I was picking off the passive middle stacks trying to make the money. If anyone has time, maybe a brief strategy of how you all go about stealing late in tournaments would be helplful for me, maybe I'm just stealing too much. Or maybe I'm not restealing from the blinds enough.Again, I know this is a long post, and I thank anyone who took the time to read it and attempt to help me out.

[flyingmoose 0]

The 109 hand was tough. I tend to play spots like this very aggressively, and I might check/raise all-in here. I'm SO not saying that's necessarily the right play, though. It's a tough hand, and I think your line was fine. I would have gambled with the AQ, because a push from a 10BB stack can come from a lot of hands much weaker than that. But if you felt you had control of the table and would have much better opportunities to pick up chips, then folding very well could have been the right play. I hate your preflop raise with KQ. He's not going anywhere for 1400 more, with the pot odds you've given him. Bumping it to 2000 leaves you with an awkward pot where the villain's stack is about the size of the pot. It not only leaves you vulnerable to a stop-n-go, but makes you easily trapped on the flop. You may have position, but I'm not even sure you want it, because with the awkward pot size you created, the villain has a lot of tools he can use to outplay you. Unless you hit top pair, you're going to be guessing with your flop action. I think you should have either raised to 3000, folded or limped. I think the shove with K7s was probably the right play, but you left out some important info. What position were you exactly and how full was your table? If you were earlier than the cut-off and at a full table, I think you could have waited for a better hand. If your table was short or you were on the cutoff or button, then the play was probably right.

[AlphaOmega 0]

I hate your preflop raise with KQ.  He's not going anywhere for 1400 more, with the pot odds you've given him.  Bumping it to 2000 leaves you with an awkward pot where the villain's stack is about the size of the pot.  It not only leaves you vulnerable to a stop-n-go, but makes you easily trapped on the flop.   You may have position, but I'm not even sure you want it, because with the awkward pot size you created, the villain has a lot of tools he can use to outplay you.  Unless you hit top pair, you're going to be guessing with your flop action.  I think you should have either raised to 3000, folded or limped.  

This was really the hand that was driving me crazy, and I think you hit it right on the money. The problem was that I can never see myself limping with KQ, maybe folding, but with a limper I felt like there was some easy money on the table, possibly a speculative hand that he wanted to see a cheap flop with, so I thought I should try and take it, but in retrospect, my raise just accomodates many ways for him to outplay me. I feel like this is a prime example of something I didn't understand in a few tourny books I read, how a limper changes the complexion of pre-flop action so much, and how you hand must be so much stronger because if you are going to raise, you must now commit a lot more chips to a pot. With the K 7 hand, I really think it was prime for a steal. my M was awfully low, I was two off the button, both blinds had average stacks, close to the money, folded to me, etc., but sorry if my OP was vague and didn't paint the picture properly.Again, I know that's a long read, thanks for taking the time.