Casino staff normally refer to chips as "cheques," which is of French origin. Technically, there’s a distinction between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a denomination printed on it and is constantly valued at the amount of the imprinted number. Chips, although, do not have denominations imprinted on them and any color can be worth any amount as determined by the table. e.g., in a poker tournament, the casino may define white chips as one dollar and blue chips as 10 dollars; at the same time, in a roulette game, the house may value white chips as $0.25 and blue chips as two dollars. An additional instance, the inexpensive red, white, and blue poker chips you buy at Wal-Mart for your Friday-night poker get together are called "chips" because they do not have denominations printed on them.
When you put your money down on the craps table and hear the dealer announce, "Cheque change only," he is just advising the boxman that a new gambler would like to trade $$$$$ for chips (cheques), and that the $$$$$ on the craps table is not in play. money plays in a majority of casinos, so if you put a 5 dollar bill on the Pass Line just before the hurler throws the dice and the dealer does not exchange your money for cheques, your $$$$$$ is "part of the action." When the croupier indicates, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your $$$$$$ isn’t in play.
Technically, in land based craps games, we gamble with cheques, not chips. Occasionally, a gambler will approach the table, put down a $100 cheque, and tell the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s fun to act like a newbie and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Generally, their comical responses will entertain you.