It is often said that AK against any pair lower then KK is regarded as a coin flip, that is, a situation where the odds of winning are close to even money (50% to each side).

This is true however there is a certain aspect some players disregard, the coin flip exists when you can “see” the turn and river.

If you raise with AK say against 10’s and miss the flop then fold your odds are considerably lower then a coin flip on the long run.

This is why AK is sometimes regarded as a tournament hand rather then a cash game hand. In tournaments you can often move all in with this hand thus assuring you see 5 cards if you get called.

In cash games when you usually raise with AK or any other hand you are not all in and probably have a considerable part of your stack to play for.
If you miss the flop it’s usually hard to follow trough especially OOP (out of position).

Another crucial problem with AK in a cash game is that most players, consciously or unconsciously will always put you on AK when raising (or reraising)

Try it the next time you are in a live cash game, when a player raises preflop ask a person next to you who is not in the hand, what does he think the raisor has?  
I guarantee you hear AK more then any other answer!

So, we established the fact we need to see 5 cards  with AK to get an even money situation against other pairs, how should we play AK in cash games then?