[Dave D]

Wow, OP directed me to this thread, and while I respect everyone here, the answer to me is the exact opposite of everyone else.

I'm assuming that everyone's talking about MTTs.

For me, knowing everyone else's cards is something that a more skilled player wouldnt *need* to know b/c he's a more skilled player. A more skilled player is by definition better at making reads, identifying tells and tendancies of various players. But what's the one thing he has NO clue about? The next cards. Thus, I would want to suppliment info I already knew (like that player is an idiot, he could play any two here, or that player is tight and respectable) with info I didn't have any clue about, like what cards are coming next.

Think about all the times you fold a PP to a raise, only to see you would have flopped a set. Think about all the monotone flops where you flop a set. Imagine if you knew you'd boat up on the river, you could probably get the nut flush to push 80% of the time. Or for that matter, anyone who flopped a flush.

For me, what matters is my newfound ability to lay horrendous beats on people. I know I'm making a set, and I know that's good basically 100% of the time, I don't really care about someone else's cards. But I can use my normal player reading ability to put them on a hand.

Now, think about MTT final tables, or even final 30 player situations. How often do you find yourself in the situation of "I'm pushing this AQ here regardless of what everyone else's action is " and how often do you find yourself in the situation of "I'm calling this shorty's push with any two". I think it happens a lot on online MTTs, post flop play starts to matter a lot less (until it gets down to say the final 4), and these things become push fests. Now, if I KNEW that this 37 would turn into two pair, you bet I'm pushing it to me unless there's like 4 pushes to me or something rediculous. This is key for later on, taking full advantage of every hand you get.