[ English ]

Casino personnel normally allude to chips as "cheques," being of French ancestry. In reality, there is a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a amount imprinted on it and is always worth the amount of the written denomination. Chips, although, do not have values written on them and any colour can be valued at any dollar value as determined by the casino. For instance, in a poker tournament, the dealer might define white chips as $1 and blue chips as ten dollars; while, in a roulette game, the casino might state that white chips as twenty-five cents and blue chips as $2. Another instance, the cheap red, white, and blue plastic chips you purchase at Wal-Mart for your Friday-night poker game are considered "chips" because they do not have values printed on them.

When you put your cash down on the craps table and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," he is merely informing the box man that a new gambler wishes to trade cash for chips (cheques), and that the money on the table isn’t part of the action. $$$$$ plays in a majority of betting houses, so if you lay a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just prior to the player throwing the bones and the dealer doesn’t trade your cash for chips, your money is "live" and "in play." When the croupier states, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your money isn’t in play.

Technically, in in real life craps rounds, we play with cheques, and not chips. Every now and then, a player will approach the craps table, drop a one hundred dollar cheque, and say to the croupier, "Cheque change." It’s entertaining to pretend to be a beginner and say to the dealer, "Hey, I am new to Craps, what is a cheque?" Generally, their crazy responses will amuse you.