How do you play AK?

Well, pre flop I'm always raising. I'm never giving free cards to the blinds.

raise always
if it comes raise. i 3bet 90% of the time
if i have 30 big blinds or less i try to go all in preflop whit 3bet or pushing 3bets/raises

you need to 3bet with a wider range than AK KK AA to not let the opponen read you easily, also some 3bet bluffs whit position

It would depend on many factors.

Your action/decision would somehow base on many things like stacks, position, number of opponents left, table dynamics, early action, etc.

If multiway pot your stack less 25bb need shove( if you first act open raise 2bb), also need shove if you stack less 15bb. In other situations need playing postflop game..

I usually bet pot with AK pre flop and hope to hit and if no one bets then il throw a continuation bet out to posture, of corse thats if the flop isnt too nasty. Once in awhile if i have AK for a big blind i will check just for the hope of hitting so i can slow play it and maximize my chip consumption. If anybody has any suggestions to better my tourny play please comment.

cash game or tourney.. late position or early . what type of players are at table loose tight what alot of factors . limit.. no lmit .. But in general i usually raise around 3.5 times blinds early position to take it down 3 times the blinds in position. but on flop if board seems ripe for a c-bet . hope not to go bust

Always raise. No free cards. Hope someone calls and ak hits. After the flop is where u need to be careful.

In preflop -RAISE , if board is dry and oponents raise , then I usualy fold. Also position in hand is very important. All in in preflop only if you short stacked or if you have more then double of your oponent. Dont be afraid to fold AK , because on the end you have just A kicker-nothing more, any pocket pair could kill you if you dont hit A or K .

I think it's important to remember you only have Ace high unless the board improves your hand. I see a lot of players calling for all of their chips after they miss the flop, often drawing dead at that point. It can be a great hand when it hits, but it's not much otherwise. I like to always raise it or reraise it before the flop, but if I don't hit, I'm slamming the brakes pretty quickly.

depends on many things..

for example when I play AK the first thought is VALUE..then I take into account who is in the pot with me..their position/pre flop action/player style/stacksize etc then look at the flop and what they do if OOP and if the texture makes sense with their pre actions, plus taking the other mentioned factors into consideration...

if I am oop then again it depends on who's in the pot..if its 3 or 4 people and I didn't connect then I'll just usually check/fold as a default unless something spectacular happens with reads....if its a HU pot then i'll see if its profitable in that spot to cbet while thinking about the turn etc..

it just depends I think..many many different situations are possible.

learning to range peoples hands will be a good start into playing any hand better in any given spot.

You know what...That had used to be a hand to me but now if i want to be smart. I just flat call and if theres some raise i just fold. That hand is a nightmare. No joke.

sometimes a nightmare.

With AK , you should play very aggressively . As a rule, with them you will enter the game with a raise ( reraise ) from any position . Although in hand AK concluded great potential without improving it loses even the smallest pair. Therefore, the purpose of your raise - to win the pot without a showdown , forcing opponents to go to pass . You can do this either immediately or continue the attack on the flop

The play of this premium hand - AK - is the most difficult i have ever meet! If you don't know how you must play against your oponnent is a dead hand...

raise of course, but sometimes i limp them, or even fold =)))) it depends on opponents moves, their agression and their positions. usually on the last stages feel32fold it, if you not sure that you are standing higher than opp pre =)))

It is not that much easy, various factors matter here.

I usually make an opening bet (2-4BB) with a wide range of opening hole cards (AA,KK, AK,AQ) plus suited connectors. This way it is hard for opponents to put me onto what kind of cards I'm holding. The way I play after the flop depends on what gets flopped, my opponents, etc.

One thing you shouldnt do is become predictable with this hand,I switch play up for this and, A-A,K-K, especially if i want a raise, or trapping an overly aggressive player to double up.

raise pre flop or 3bet
after flof - big cont bet.

Raise pre-flop, continuation bet on flop. Most of the time youll win the pot right there.
If your opponent calls or raises, you have some decisions to make. If your opponent is a really aggressive player, I would most likely take it all the way to showdown. If your opponent plays very few hands and his behavior is out of character, I would most likely fold.