Casino employees generally reference chips as "cheques," which has its origins in France. Technically, there is a difference between a cheque and a chip. A cheque is a chip with a value printed on it and is always worth the value of the written denomination. Chips, however, don’t have denominations written on them and any color can be worth any amount as defined by the dealer. For instance, at a poker tournament, the dealer might value white chips as $1 and blue chips as $10; while, in a roulette game, the casino might value white chips as $0.25 and blue chips at two dollars. Another example, the cheap red, white, and blue poker chips you purchase at the department store for your weekly poker game are called "chips" because they do not have values imprinted on them.
When you plop your money on the table and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," he’s basically telling the boxman that a new player wish to change money for cheques, and that the money sitting on the table isn’t in play. Money plays in many betting houses, so if you put a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just prior to the player rolls the ivories and the dealer doesn’t exchange your cash for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
Technically, in live craps games, we play with cheques, not chips. Sometimes, an individual will walk up to the the table, drop a one hundred dollar cheque, and instruct the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s fun to act like a beginner and ask the dealer, "Hey, I am new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Frequently, their wacky answers will entertain you.