Learn to Bet on Craps – Hints and Tactics: Chips Or Cheques?
Posted in Craps on 01/22/2010 03:22 pm by Philip
Casino employees frequently reference chips as "cheques," which is of French origin. Technically, there’s a difference between a cheque and a chip. A cheque is just a chip with a denomination written on it and is always worth the amount of the imprinted on it. Chips, on the other hand, do not have values written on them and the value is determined by the casino. For example, in a poker table, the casino might value white chips as $1 and blue chips as 10 dollars; at the same time, in a roulette game, the croupier might define white chips as 25 cents and blue chips at two dollars. Another example, the inexpensive red, white, and blue plastic chips you purchase at Wal-Mart for your Friday-night poker game are referred to as "chips" due to the fact that they don’t have denominations imprinted on them.
When you put your money down and hear the dealer announce, "Cheque change only," he’s merely informing the boxman that a new competitor wish to exchange money for chips, and that the money sitting on the table is not in play. Cash plays in most betting houses, so if you put a $5 bill on the Pass Line just before the player tosses the dice and the croupier doesn’t exchange your money for chips, your money is "live" and "in play."
In reality, in live craps games, we wager with with cheques, not chips. Every now and then, an individual will walk up to the the table, drop a 100 dollar cheque, and tell the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s a blast to pretend to be a new player and ask the croupier, "Hey, I am new to this game, what is a cheque?" Generally, their wacky answers will entertain you.