if its only a few hands into a STT SNG, you get AQs in the SB and there is a MP raise and no callers what do you think is better? Should you 3bet and risk getting 4bet or should you call to keep the pot small and hope up hit on the flop? I ended up calling and hitting top top for a decent pot but results dont really mean much.
It depends on your opponent. In some cases you can 3-bet because your opponent will call it with worse, or even 4-bet with worse. However I would say that those cases are the exception, not the rule. Generally if you 3-bet with AQ early in the tournament, if you're up against a tight opponent, whether they are a regular or a random, they will fold everything that you beat, raise everything that beats you, and very rarely flat call. So in that situation, we never re-raise, we choose between calling and folding. If his range has weaker aces in it, or KQ, then it is probably worth calling, even out of position, especially if we know they will likely go broke with top pair. Obviously there will be some pairs in our opponents range, but the thing is we usually will not stack an opponent who has an underpair when we hit the flop.
It all boils down to your opponent's range. What is he raising from the button there? Will he call with worse if I 3-bet (i.e. raise for value)? Perhaps he'll fold better if I 3-bet (usually not when you have AQ, but you still need to ask it, in case you choose to
bluff with T9s, 22, or whatever)? If the answer to both of those is no, but your hand still has value against your opponent's range, then you should typically call.