Craps Strategy

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Casino personnel usually reference chips as "cheques," which has its origins in France. In reality, there’s a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is just a chip with a denomination printed on it and is forever worth the value of the written denomination. Chips, on the other hand, do not have denominations imprinted on them and the value is determined by the dealer. For example, at a poker tournament, the croupier may define white chips as one dollar and blue chips as 10 dollars; while, at a roulette game, the croupier may define white chips as $0.25 and blue chips at $2. A further example, the inexpensive red, white, and blue poker chips you purchase at Wal-Mart for your weekend poker game are referred to as "chips" due to the fact that they don’t have denominations printed on them.

When you plop your money down and hear the dealer announce, "Cheque change only," he’s simply informing the boxman that a new competitor wish to change money for chips (cheques), and that the money on the table is not in play. Money plays in most betting houses, so if you put a five dollar bill down on the Pass Line just before the shooter rolls the pair of dice and the dealer doesn’t exchange your money for chips, your money is "live" and "in play."

In reality, in actual craps games, we bet with with cheques, not chips. Occasionally, an individual will walk up to the the table, drop a one hundred dollar cheque, and inform the dealer, "Cheque change." It’s amusing to act like an amateur and ask the dealer, "Hey, I’m a brand-new to this game, what’s a cheque?" Frequently, their crazy answers will entertain you.