• Odds of player winning - 44.62%
• Odds of dealer winning - 45.85%
• Odds of a tie - 9.53%

Thus, it would seem to be to your advantage to bet on the house winning on every hand.

To even out the odds however, the house charges a commission (typically 5%) on winning player bets placed on the house. How should this change the way a player wagers?

Factoring in the commission it turns out that you are still slightly better off by betting that the house will win. This assumes the commission is the usual 5%, however, should the commission change then you have to change strategy.

• If the commission is less than 5% then it is to your advantage to bet with the house
• If the commission is more than 5% it pays to bet on the player winning

Baccarat sometimes allows for a bet to be made for a tie, and sometimes it doesn't (mini baccarat typically played online usually does). Although the odds of 8 to 1 may sound appealing, it is considered one of the worst wagers in the casino, so don't bother making this bet part of your baccarat strategy.

Removing the tie hands in the event there is no payoff, the odds of the player winning are 49.32% and 50.68% for the dealer. For various commissions we can calculate the following average payoffs then, assuming 100 wagers of $1 were made.

In conclusion? You're better off betting with the dealer provided the commission is 5% or less whether tie games are allowed to be bet on or not. Simple as that.