Casino workers generally allude to chips as "cheques," which is of French ancestry. In reality, there is a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is just a chip with a denomination written on it and is forever worth the value of the written on it. Chips, on the other hand, do not have denominations imprinted on them and the value is determined by the croupier. For instance, in a poker table, the croupier might value white chips as $1 and blue chips as ten dollars; whereas, in a roulette game, the dealer might value white chips as $0.25 and blue chips at $2. Another example, the cheap red, white, and blue poker chips you purchase at Wal-Mart for your weekend poker game are referred to as "chips" due to the fact that they don’t have values written on them.
When you plop your money down on the table and hear the croupier say, "Cheque change only," he’s merely telling the boxman that a new competitor wish to exchange cash for cheques, and that the cash sitting on the table is not in play. Money plays in many casinos, so if you put a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just before the player rolls the ivories and the croupier does not exchange your money for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
In reality, in live craps games, we gamble with with cheques, and not chips. Occasionally, a player will approach the table, put down a 100 dollar cheque, and instruct the croupier, "Cheque change." It is amusing to act like a newbie and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m a beginner to this game, what’s a cheque?" Most of the time, their crazy responses will entertain you.