It confuses players who have played a lot of home game poker. There are some card rooms who run some games with either a full “kill” or a half “kill”. A “kill” means that the stakes are doubled; a half kill means increased 50%, for the next hand, under certain circumstances. In split pot games like Omaha eight-or-better, the kill usually occurs if someone scoops and entire pot that is bigger than a certain minimum size. In one-way games, the kill usually occurs if the same player wins two consecutive pots. Whenever a situation like kill occurs, the lucky winner of the scooped or two consecutive pots must post a special big blind at the new level. Because posting a blind isn't an advantage (you're forced to place money into a pot before you see your cards), the kill is, in effect, a kind of "tax" on a player who has just won a lot of money. This "tax" means that if you're in one of those games where the kill occurs when you win two pots in a row, you have a slightly smaller incentive to enter a hand right after you've won a nice pot. This doesn't mean you shouldn't play your big hands, of course, but if you have a marginal holding, this creates one more reason to toss it into the muck.

He "can" muck his cards simply by doing it; there isn't a whole lot you can do if he flings them into the muck, conceding the pot. Technically, you are entitled to see them if you want to see them, but barring unusual circumstances, I think asking to see cards under these circumstances is a big mistake. First, there is always the chance the bluffer has misread his hand and actually has a straight or some other good hand. I have seen even very good players make this mistake and if the player who is "conceding" has not said "I fold" or done something else that kills his hand, your curiosity could cost you a pot every once in a while. Second, and more likely, when a player mucks without showing, you already know what he has: a stone cold bluff. Asking to see the cards will only irritate the player and possibly make him play better against you; it will also make him less likely to bluff too much, and most players bluff too much. If someone else mucks his hand when you call, my advice is to take the pot and be content with it.

Opening bets are defined by the game's name. The person who seats you will ask you if you want to play 2-4, 3-6, or 1-4, for example. In a 2-4 game, the bets and raises are in $2 increments on the opening rounds and $4 increments in the later rounds. It won't take you long to get the hang of this, but I suggest you ask the floor person if you can watch a game from a respectful distance for a while first, so you can feel a bit more comfortable when you actually sit down.