You are not as far behind as you think. Heads up you are a coin flip as nearly every other time you play this you will flop a pair and it will be top pair with best kicker. Unless you have reason to believe someone is playing kk or aa you should always play this as you just need 1:1 pot odds to justify a call preflop (unless a unusually tight player has just made huge raise after two hours of never raising). Also, after the rag flop you aren't as bad off as you think either against qq and jj (although they are feeling good at this point). If there are a few people in the pot then pre-flop raises are sure to have given you pot odds to call one bet on the flop to catch your A or K. If you can get 5 to 1 on your call against the qq or jj you will break even in the long run (someone may want to check my calculation as I don't have this memorized). You just have to win that situation once every few times you try to come out even or ahead and if you are getting 5 to 1 or better you will make money. I based this on the fact that you are 20% to still hit an A or K on turn and river. Anyway study your pot odds as they will make your decisions quicker in those situations and hopefully reduce a tell on yourself as you wont be pausing and pondering giving your oppenents ample time to study you. Just my 2 cents again,
MinneJohnny | 
Playing AK 
