PokerStars Now Shows Hole Cards During All-Ins

Live poker and online poker are almost two different games. While the strategy behind both can often remain the same, there are some glaring differences including getting physical reads on opponents in live poker and being able to multi-table while playing online poker.
 
PokerStars recently removed one difference between the two formats.  In a recent update, the world's largest real money online poker room now displays hole cards in every all-in situation while the hand is being unfolded. This allows players to also see their odds of winning in real-time, while also giving them a moment or two to take note of what the player was holding in an all-in situation.
 
For tournament players, this is nothing new, as hole cards were already being displayed during every all-in situation just like they would be in live poker. However, ring game players previously were given the option to hide their hole cards during these situations.
 
Players were able to see the hole cards, but only if they knew to look into the hand history file for that hand, which many of the site's recreational base were probably unaware of. Additionally, players who were aware of it maybe didn't want to take the time to click a few buttons to see the hole cards since it would take their focus away from action on another table that they might be playing on.
 
For those of you using Holdem Manager 2 or PokerTracker 4, this change won't amount to much since the software already hovers the hole cards after each hand. The only change here is that you can see it while playing instead to allow for a little drama.
 
In a way, this evens the playing field, but not by much. Decisions are already made by the time the cards are displayed and this information was already available. However, it does seem like a smart move by PokerStars since the information was already available in the client, so why not add a little drama to each all-in hand while giving everyone the same info about hole cards.
 
Personally, I would like to see PokerStars take it a step further. In live poker, players can request to see the mucked cards of any opponent on any call-down situation. It would be great right after the hand was over for the mucked cards to be automatically displayed or for the player who won the hand to have the right to request them with a click of a button.

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