Right. Best to run through your options and also 5 diff scenarios that can play out here comes to mind.
1)You raise early out of pos - MULTIWAY
2) You raise early out of pos - Headsup
3) You are out of pos and are caught between two players.
4) You are in pos and its Multiway
5) you are in pos and it's Headup
Questions to ask yourself: What's your image? (
bluffing too much and showing will result in less respect) What's your opponent's image? (what's his raising range) Is your opponent a thinking player? What's the texture on the board besides the A/K on the board? (is there a flush/str draw?) How much chips do you have left? If you make a move, are you pot-committed? How far into the tournament are you? (are you better off taking a stand or giving this up for better chances down the line) What are the blinds/antes? (This determines how much to bet)
What are your options?
Fold (assumming he bets) - Out of position(OOP) and multiway.. your best option unless you wanna bluff on the A/K. Safest choice and easiest to take.
Bet - it's checked to you and you bet or you're out of position and you bet first. A good decision if heads up and a cheaper way to gain information than check raising.
Check-raise shows the most strength. I mean, comeon, the range of hands you could have raise with includes (AK,AQ,) and you could have the K and you may induce the guy to fold a weaker kicker but this usually rarely happens. If you face a reraise or worse, a reraise all in, this would have cost you much more than a raise would have.
Another option I've seen is people making small blocker bets all the way. Keeps the pot small but usually that's a giveaway of what you're holding IMHO.
Now assuming this hands goes into 4th street and the river.. You may want to reaccess the situation. And this is where your reads come in? do you fire a 2nd barrel or a 3rd barrel? How big a bet do you bet to try and bluff him off it?
If you hit your two-outer on the way.. Good for you. Reel him in. Go to valuetown with him but watch out for any made draws.
Lots to think about. Comes with experience but whatever it is, never have a pre-set plan in stone. Always adapt to the situation. If it's multiway, more likely someone could be holding an A or a K but they could also be holding pocket pairs. This is wear your reads come in. More likely than not, you're beat and your opponent won't be able to fold unless he really respects you.
Another thing to consider is when you bet, what are the
odds of a worse hand paying you off with JJ/TT/QQ when there's overcards on the board. Highly unlikely. Overall, best to play these hands cautiously or go for the jugular to play it like you have it. (then again, who says you need JJ/TT/QQ to do that) ;p
My 2 cents.