Casino staff usually refer to chips as "cheques," being of French origin. Technically, there’s a distinction amidst a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a denomination printed on it and is always valued at the value of the written number. Chips, however, do not have denominations imprinted on them and any color can be valued at any dollar value as defined by the dealer. For example, in a poker tournament, the casino may value white chips as one dollar and blue chips as $10; while, in a game of roulette, the casino might state that white chips as twenty-five cents and blue chips as $2. Another example, the cheap red, white, and blue poker chips you can get at the department store for your Friday-night poker game are referred to as "chips" due to the fact that they do not have values written on them.
When you plop your $$$$$ down on the table and hear the croupier say, "Cheque change only," he’s merely telling the box man that a new gambler wishes to trade money for chips (cheques), and that the money on the craps table isn’t part of the action. $$$$$ plays in almost all betting houses, so if you lay a $5 bill on the Pass Line just before the hurler rolls the dice and the dealer doesn’t trade your cash for cheques, your cash is "part of the action." When the croupier says, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your $$$$$ is not part of the action.
Technically, in in real life craps games, we play with cheques, not chips. Every now and then, a gambler will walk up to the the table, drop a $100 cheque, and say to the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s amusing to pretend to be a beginner and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Generally, their crazy responses will entertain you.