Casino staff generally refer to chips as "cheques," which has its origins in France. Technically, there’s a difference between a chip and a cheque. A cheque is a chip with a value printed on it and is forever worth the value of the printed value. Chips, however, don’t have denominations written on them and the value is defined by the table. For instance, at a poker tournament, the dealer might define white chips as $1 and blue chips as 10 dollars; at the same time, at a roulette game, the casino might value white chips as $0.25 and blue chips as $2. Another example, the cheap red, white, and blue poker chips you buy at Wal-Mart for your weekly poker game are referred to as "chips" due to the fact that they don’t have denominations printed on them.
When you put your money down and hear the dealer say, "Cheque change only," he’s just informing the boxman that a new bettor wants to exchange cash for chips (cheques), and that the cash on the table is not in play. Cash plays in most casinos, so if you place a $5 bill on the Pass Line just before the shooter rolls the dice and the dealer doesn’t change your money for chips, your cash is "live" and "in play."
In reality, in actual craps games, we wager with with cheques, and not chips. Every now and then, an individual will approach the table, put down a one hundred dollar cheque, and inform the croupier, "Cheque change." It is a blast to act like an amateur and ask the croupier, "Hey, I’m a beginner to this game, what is a cheque?" Most of the time, their wacky answers will entertain you.