[doh742]

as i understand this question, no one has bet yet, and while you may not be first to act, you still have the option to check.
with one to two players left this is universal.

checking is a VERY WEAK play. with a hand like ace king or ace queen, your raise should have you up against one or two players. in which case you have to bet something between half the pot and the pot. most flops miss. if you check, you will lose that hand most times to a good player becuase they will bet the pot at you, and now you have a tough choice to make, is he bluffing, drawing, or does he have something. if you call, then what? you check the turn, he bets the pot again, and now you are really screwed if you didn't hit. if you bet, you put that tough choice on the other player. and you don't need to win every time. lets say you have a 100 pot. you bet 50 into the hundred and win. you win 100. you can now get called or raised, and drop on 4th or check down the hand 2 times to break even. betting half the pot means if you win 1 out of 3, you break even.

if you are going to take the check route, then you must fold to anybet or reraise big. check calling is an incredibly weak play, and will usually result in a bet you can't call on fourth street. no matter how you look at it, they only way to play ace king post flop, is to make a continuation bet of half the pot to the pot everytime you were the preflop aggressor, and no one has acted when it is your turn to bet first.

(note:if the donks at your table called your raise, or you only raised min or 2 times, and you have 4 others or 3 others, your continuation bet will not work enough to make money)

last comment on this: betting defines the hand. better to know you are beat by a raise and lose 100 then to check, call 100, check, call 300, check, fold to 500 or call 500 and find out you were smoked on the flop.