First Tournament at Artichoke Joe's

Yesterday I played in my first card room tournament at Artichoke Joes. They have daily morning tournaments, this particular one was a $20+$5 Limit Texas Hold 'Em Tournament. I got there with a friend a little bit before the 11am start time, not really sure what to expect. The last person at each table won $200 so naturally we wanted to be at different tables. After we picked our seats we found each other not only at the same table but in adjoining seats. Everyone starts out with about $500 in chips (not entirely sure) and blinds start at $10-15 with $15-$30 bets. Most of my Hold 'Em experience has come from no limit games - my weekly home game and other tournaments I've played in. We were concerned about the limit aspect of this tournament but it quickly became apparent that it wouldn't be a complete No-Fold 'Em event. I didn't get any cards to play with, I folded A2o early on in early position and would have hit 2 pair on the river; sadly this would have been my best hand. My only other interesting draw was when I had A5s again in early position with a rainbow flop of 3T4, I checked this, someone in MP bet with a LP call, and I called. The turn was a rag, I checked again, MP bet, LP folded to me, I pondered if this was worth a shot when all of a sudden the bettor flashed his pocket Jacks. The dealer got mad at him but I definitely appreciated it. This made me consider calling his bet even more since I had an over card with an inside straight draw. If I called his bet I would only have chips left for one all-in so I decided to conserve my chips for a better hand, perhaps I should have taken the chance given my low-stack and chips I had already put into this pot. I was later blinded out. My friend did a bit better and made it past the break but got short stacked and had to push all-in blind, he looked under and had pocket 9's! I was sure he would win this pot as only the big blind and dealer called his bet. He got the most horrible flop, TKJ and sat back as the BB and dealer battled, the turn was a 2s and the dealer bet out the BB, he showed A7s, he had a nut flush draw with an inside straight draw as well with the Q. He had 16 outs (9 spades, 3 A, 4 Q) in the '44' cards left in the deck. He rivers the Q of spades, adding insult to injury. We made our quick getaway but plan to return next week where we plan to play our good draws earlier and bigger cards later in the game.