I know your cards, AK. Are they suited? Be nice to know a tat more about your position. What does out of position really mean? How early are you talking about? It also would be nice to know the size of the table, e.g., 2,3,6,7,9 or 10 players. How many players are in the hand? I would like to know the pot
odds, that is, the costs of staying in the hand compared to the pot size. I would like to know anything that you might know about your opponents' playing styles. I know AK missed. What actually flopped?
Suited or unsuited, AK, pre-flop, "emphasis on pre-flop," is a drawing hand with which caution should be exercised. As hole cards, they always cause my personal warning lights to flash. Why? Because these top hole cards, meaning AK o or AK s can signal high bets and the potential to win or lose big time. So, I always remember to read top hole cards backwards, just to remind myself of their real value. For instance, AK o is just that. It is the highest card (A) with the highest non-ace kicker (K). AK s is primarily the same, except it has a bit more value when looking long term since it might become a flush, flop or post flop, whereas AK o theoretically projected would at best probably end up as a straight, also flop or post flop. It is worth noting, that should nothing develop on the flop, meaning neither a flush nor a straight nor even anything along the lines of high pairs, then any opponent pair – no matter how small - can crush either AK o or AK s. Remember that! In other words, from any position, it is worthwhile to keep in mind that neither AK s nor AK o equals so much as a pair. So, my typical question would be, “Why would you risk anything where you only have high cards at the flop?” And, “Does that even make sense from any position where AK o/s missed the flop?”
AK s hole cards have a 65-67 win percentage and AK o hole cards have a win percentage of 63-64. This means that AK s will win 6,500 to 6,700 times out of every 10,000 hands played, and that AK o will win 6,300 to 6,400 times out of every 10,000. Conversely, AK s as hole cards will lose 33-35% of the time and AK o will lose 36-37%, meaning the former loses 3,300 to 3,500 times out of every 10,000 hands played and the latter loses 3,600 to 3,700 out of every 10,000. So, with the above in mind, a lot of cards may be in play with higher win, and lower loss, percentages. These are factors worth considering before taking any actions, but these are "pre-flop" percentages. In the position where AK o or AK s missed on the flop, these stats no longer count for much. And, as you probably know, win/loss percentages can be tricky. For instance, they can tell you how many times certain cards will win or lose out of every 10,000 hands played, but - they cannot tell you "when" a win or loss will occur. So, even with these figures, neither a win nor a loss is guaranteed.
Poker is a game of skill. Knowing what you have told me and what you have not, and not knowing what I would like to, doing anything more than folding would be an unwarranted gamble and therefore an unnecessary risk to the integrity of your stack. If you want to gamble, this is not the hand with which to do that. Check, if possible. Fold to any raise. Do not chase, please.