Craps Tips

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

Casino personnel normally refer to chips as "cheques," which is of French ancestry. In reality, there’s a difference amidst a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a value imprinted on its face and is constantly valued at the amount of the imprinted number. Chips, although, do not have values printed on them and any color can be worth any cash amount as determined by the table. For example, in a poker tournament, the casino might value white chips as $1 and blue chips as $10; while, in a roulette game, the house might define white chips as 25 cents and blue chips as two dollars. Another instance, the inexpensive red, white, and blue poker chips you purchase at K-Mart for your weekend poker game are considered "chips" due to the fact that they do not have denominations printed on them.

When you put your $$$$ down on the table and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," she’s simply informing the boxman that a new gambler wants to change money for chips (cheques), and that the cash on the craps table is not in play. money plays in a majority of betting houses, so if you place a $5 bill on the Pass Line just before the hurler tosses the dice and the dealer does not trade your $$$$$$ for cheques, your $$$$$$ is "part of the action." When the croupier announces, "Cheque change only," the boxman understands that your $$$$$$ isn’t in play.

Technically, in live craps rounds, we wager with cheques, and not chips. Ever so often, a gambler will approach the craps table, drop a 100 dollar cheque, and tell the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s entertaining to act like a newbie and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m new to this game, what is a cheque?" Frequently, their wacky answers will amuse you.