Understand How to Bet on Craps – Hints and Tactics: Chips or Cheques?
Casino employees usually allude to chips as "cheques," being of French ancestry. In reality, there is a distinction between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a amount written on it and is always valued at the value of the written denomination. Chips, however, do not have denominations printed on them and any color can be valued at any dollar value as determined by the casino. e.g., in a poker tournament, the dealer may value white chips as 1 dollar and blue chips as 10 dollars; while, in a roulette game, the croupier might value white chips as twenty-five cents and blue chips as $2. A different instance, the inexpensive red, white, and blue plastic chips you can get at Target for your weekly poker get together are called "chips" because they do not have values written on them.
When you put your $$$$ down on the craps table and hear the croupier say, "Cheque change only," he is simply telling the boxman that a new player would like to exchange $$$$$$ for chips (cheques), and that the $$$$$$ on the craps table isn’t part of the action. money plays in most betting houses, so if you lay a $5 bill on the Pass Line just prior to the player throwing the bones and the dealer does not trade your $$$$$ for cheques, your $$$$$$ is "in play." When the dealer says, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your money is not in play.
In reality, in land based craps games, we wager with cheques, not chips. Ever so often, a gambler will walk up to the the table, drop a 100 dollar cheque, and inform the croupier, "Cheque change." It is amusing to pretend to be a beginner and say to the dealer, "Hey, I’m new to Craps, what is a cheque?" Frequently, their crazy answers will entertain you.