[stragf]

I too am new, and have become a serious student of the game. Harrington's book on No limit, tourney play is excellent, and he covers this. AK is a raise at virtually every position, unless there are maybe a couple of raise/reraises in front, and even then, you play. In this case, last postion on the blind, fold all the way around, he would suggest likely 5X BB, or pot size. Pot size here is the two blinds, $300 plus his $400. Pot is $700, and 5X BB is $1000. He is on short stack, so it looks like he needs to be careful. Remember, your objective is to MAXIMIZE your chips. If he is 5000 behind, he only has about 1600 after his 400 raise, so if you go $700, he may call, which is good. If you go 1K, he may scare down and you forfeit his call. I thik I would go $800 and see what action you get. If you catch the flop, you are laughing. It sounds like he might have a 99-QQ, as I don't think he is slowplaying. He needs and wants chips to stay alive. If you don't hit the flop, see what he does. That's my take, and I'm curious about other replies, and if anyone has the chance, I would appreicate comments on my reply to this question.
By the way, what did you do, and what was the result?