Casino employees frequently refer to chips as "cheques," which is of French origin. Technically, there is a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is just a chip with a value printed on it and is always worth the value of the written value. Chips, however, do not have denominations imprinted on them and any color can be worth any amount as determined by the dealer. For instance, at a poker tournament, 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 as $2. Another example, the inexpensive red, white, and blue plastic chips you buy at the department store for your weekend poker game are called "chips" because they don’t have values written on them.
When you put your money down and hear the croupier announce, "Cheque change only," he’s basically telling the boxman that a new player wants to change cash for chips or more correctly cheques, and that the money sitting on the table isn’t in play. Cash plays in most betting houses, so if you place a five dollar bill down on the Pass Line just before the shooter tosses the pair of dice and the croupier doesn’t exchange your cash for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
In reality, in actual craps games, we bet with with cheques, not chips. Sometimes, a player will approach the table, put down a one hundred dollar cheque, and inform the croupier, "Cheque change." It is amusing to pretend to be a beginner and ask the dealer, "Hey, I am a brand-new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Most of the time, their crazy responses will amuse you.