Learn to Compete in Craps – Tricks and Schemes: Chips Or Cheques?

Casino workers frequently allude to chips as "cheques," which is of French origin. Technically, there’s a difference between a cheque and a chip. A cheque is just a chip with a denomination printed on it and is forever worth the amount of the printed denomination. Chips, on the other hand, don’t have denominations imprinted on them and any color can be worth any amount as defined by the croupier. For instance, at a poker tournament, the croupier may define white chips as one dollar and blue chips as ten dollars; whereas, at a roulette game, the croupier might define white chips as twenty-five cents and blue chips as $2. A further example, the inexpensive red, white, and blue plastic chips you purchase at the department store for your weekend poker game are called "chips" because they do not have values imprinted on them.

When you plop your money on the table and hear the croupier announce, "Cheque change only," he’s basically informing the boxman that a new bettor wants to change money for chips, and that the cash 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 rolls the pair of dice and the croupier doesn’t exchange your cash for chips, your money is "live" and "in play."

In reality, in live craps games, we bet with with cheques, not chips. Sometimes, a player will approach the table, drop a one hundred dollar cheque, and tell the dealer, "Cheque change." It is amusing to act like an amateur and ask the croupier, "Hey, I am new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Frequently, their wacky responses will entertain you.