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Casino staff normally reference chips as "cheques," which is of French ancestry. Technically, there is a distinction between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a amount imprinted on its face and is always valued at the amount of the printed denomination. Chips, although, don’t have denominations written on them and any color can be worth any amount as defined by the casino. For example, in a poker tournament, the dealer might define white chips as 1 dollar and blue chips as 10 dollars; whereas, in a game of roulette, the house might define white chips as 25 cents and blue chips as $2. A different instance, the inexpensive red, white, and blue poker chips you buy at K-Mart for your weekly poker get together are called "chips" owing to the fact that they don’t have values imprinted on them.

When you plop your cash down on the craps table and hear the croupier say, "Cheque change only," she’s just advising the boxman that a new patron wants to exchange cash for chips (cheques), and that the $$$$$ on the table is not part of the action. money plays in almost all casinos, so if you put a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just prior to the player throwing the dice and the dealer does not change your $$$$$ for chips, your $$$$$$ is "in play." When the croupier says, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your cash isn’t part of the action.

In reality, in land based craps games, we gamble with cheques, and not chips. Every once in a while, a gambler will walk up to the the table, drop a 100 dollar cheque, and inform the croupier, "Cheque change." It’s fun to pretend to be a beginner and ask the dealer, "Hey, I am new to Craps, what is a cheque?" Generally, their crazy answers will amuse you.

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