Is Ace King a good hand to play against maniacs?

I really like playing Ace King, even though it`s not the best preflop hand. But playing the micros where there are absolute maniacs i.e. those who play anything aggressively pre-flop, take the joy of landing AK. I mean donks who are in every hand, and I mean every hand betting, raising, or re-raising whatever he has even air. They ruin it because of course they stand a good chance as any to land something better than AK on the flop, unless you land a good one too.

I’ve made three typical plays to deal with these players. You could play it with a raise pre-flop, then trap then if the board is good for you. If my poker software says I am up against a maniac, I feel tend to bluff more even with air if he senses weakness in your hand. It’s the perfect way to trap him especially if you flop something big like a KK or AA, or get flush or a straight draw.

The second is I play normally as I would pre-flop so that I can just let it go if I don’t hit the flop and reduce the risk of a major suck out. 

The 3rd alternative is to put him to the test for all his money. After all, AK is the best hand pre flop against anything but pocket pairs. Poker odds math suggests I am good against all other hands aside from KK and AA. Once there, I just hope that the AK holds up. I’m ¼ sure it’s not AA, or KK, which should obvious since I’ve already got 25% of each to build those pairs.

Each one of these strategies depend on the type of maniac I’m facing, and if there is poker tournament strategy involved. If he’s a super donk and a known idiot who will call and raise any hand just to get to the flop, I do number three. Which is the most used tactic I have used for this case I might add. And to great success too.

If he’s aggressive but is known to play a good hand or two, and shows a penchant for waiting for the flop, I go with number one. In the long run, you should have the higher chances of winning as you have top hand other than AA and KK, and have as much a chance of flopping flush or straight, and have an edge of winning top card.

If I don’t have enough information yet on said donk, I go with number two until I know more about him at least. Profiling your antagonist is clearly important. After several years of playing AK, those are my best ideas for playing the hand.