[ English ]

Casino staff usually refer to chips as "cheques," which has its origins in France. In reality, there is a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a value printed on it and is forever worth the amount of the written on it. Chips, on the other hand, don’t have values printed on them and any color can be worth any amount as defined by the casino. For instance, at a poker table, the casino may define white chips as one dollar and blue chips as 10 dollars; at the same time, at a roulette game, the casino might value white chips as $0.25 and blue chips as $2. Another example, the cheap red, white, and blue plastic chips you purchase at Wal-Mart for your weekly poker game are called "chips" because they don’t have values imprinted on them.

When you put your money on the table and hear the croupier say, "Cheque change only," he’s simply informing the boxman that a new bettor wish to change cash for cheques, and that the cash sitting on the table isn’t in play. Money plays in most casinos, so if you place a 5 dollar bill down on the Pass Line just prior to the player rolls the dice and the croupier doesn’t change your money for chips, your money is "live" and "in play."

In reality, in live craps games, we play with cheques, and not chips. Occasionally, a player will walk up to the the table, drop a 100 dollar cheque, and instruct the croupier, "Cheque change." It’s a blast to pretend to be an amateur and ask the dealer, "Hey, I am a beginner to this game, what is a cheque?" Generally, their comical answers will entertain you.