Roulette, known as Roullete in French, is a casino game where players place bets on different groups of numbers. Each bet type brings different odds for winning and offers different payouts. These differences are the result of different combinations of betting options and the fact that some bets cover more than one number or even an entire section of the wheel. In this article we are going to discuss Announced Bets which are special bets featured in most European Roulette variations but not all. These bets have unique French names and are part of the rules that must be learned to understand and play roulette.

The wheel of roulette consists of a solid, slightly convex wooden disk with a metal compartments called separators (called frets by roulette croupiers) arranged in three rows and twelve columns, with each row having two consecutive sets of three numbers. There are thirty-six of these compartments, colored alternately red and black, and numbered nonconsecutively from 1 to 36. On European-style wheels a 37th compartment painted green carries the sign 0 while on American-style ones two green ones carry 00.

There are many theories on the origins of roulette, but most of them are pretty fanciful. For example, some people believe that it was invented by the 17th century French physicist Blaise Pascal as part of his experiments in perpetual motion. Others think it was derived from the older games hoca and portique.

The roulette table has a layout with the numbers 1-36, plus a racetrack for placing announced bets. In order to make an announced bet, you must first select the number you wish to bet on and then place your chips in that area of the table. You can also bet on the split bet, which is a bet placed by placing your chips to straddle the line between two numbers. This bet has a lower payout of 11-1.