Learn to Gamble on Craps – Tips and Tactics: Chips Or Cheques?
Casino staff usually allude to chips as "cheques," which is of French ancestry. In reality, there’s a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a value printed on it and is always worth the value of the written denomination. Chips, on the other hand, don’t have values imprinted on them and the value is determined by the table. For example, in a poker tournament, the dealer may value white chips as $1 and blue chips as 10 dollars; whereas, at a roulette game, the dealer might value white chips as 25 cents and blue chips at two dollars. A further example, the inexpensive red, white, and blue plastic chips you buy at the department store for your weekly poker game are called "chips" due to the fact that they do not have denominations printed on them.
When you put your money down on the table and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," he’s basically telling the boxman that a new bettor wants to change cash for chips, and that the money on the table isn’t in play. Cash plays in many betting houses, so if you place a 5 dollar bill down on the Pass Line just prior to the player tosses the pair of dice and the croupier does not exchange your money for chips, your money is "live" and "in play."
Technically, in actual craps games, we wager with with cheques, not chips. Occasionally, a player will approach the table, drop a $100 cheque, and say to the dealer, "Cheque change." It is amusing to act like an amateur and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Frequently, their crazy answers will entertain you.