Casino employees usually refer to chips as "cheques," which has its origins in France. Technically, there is a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is just a chip with a value printed on it and is forever worth the value of the printed denomination. Chips, however, don’t have denominations written on them and the value is defined by the dealer. For example, at a poker table, the dealer may value white chips as $1 and blue chips as ten dollars; whereas, in a roulette game, the dealer may value white chips as twenty-five cents and blue chips at two dollars. A different example, the cheap red, white, and blue plastic chips you purchase at the department store for your weekend poker game are called "chips" due to the fact that they do not have denominations printed on them.
When you put your money on the table and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," he’s just telling the boxman that a new bettor wants to exchange money for chips, and that the money sitting on the table is not in play. Cash plays in many betting houses, so if you put a five dollar bill down on the Pass Line just before the shooter tosses the pair of dice and the dealer doesn’t change your cash for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
Technically, in actual craps games, we play with cheques, and not chips. Sometimes, a player will approach the table, drop a one hundred dollar cheque, and inform the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s amusing to act like a newbie and ask the croupier, "Hey, I’m a beginner to this game, what is a cheque?" Generally, their wacky responses will entertain you.
