Okay, this might sound weird, but email marketing reminds me a lot of poker. I know, I know—stick with me here.

Think about it. Both games are all about reading people, making smart moves, and knowing when to hold back. Poker players don’t just throw chips around randomly. They watch. They learn. They adapt.

That’s exactly what we should be doing with our email lists.

When I started thinking this way, something clicked. My open rates didn’t just improve—they doubled. People actually started replying to my emails. And instead of sending those soul-crushing newsletters that nobody reads, I was building real relationships.

Here are five poker strategies that completely changed how I approach email marketing.

1. Know Your Audience Inside and Out

You can’t win at poker if you don’t know who you’re playing against. Same deal with email marketing.

I’m not talking about knowing their age and location. That’s surface-level stuff. What really keeps your subscribers awake at 2 AM? What problem would they pay good money to solve? Do they check email on their phone during lunch, or are they desktop users who read everything Saturday morning?

Split your list based on what people buy, how often they open emails, or what they tell you in surveys. The goal? Make every single email feel like you wrote it just for them.

2. Play the Long Game Strategically

Here’s where most people screw up: they go for the sale every damn time.

Poker taught me patience. The best players don’t care about winning every hand. They want to win the whole game. Your emails should work the same way.

Americas Cardroom gets it. They don’t hit you with “BUY NOW” every day. Instead, they mix helpful content with the occasional offer. Poker strategy tips, tournament updates, and yeah, some promotions—but they’re smart about when and how.

Build trust first. Sales happen naturally when people actually like hearing from you. I’ve watched this approach triple customer lifetime value.

3. Stay Refreshingly Unpredictable

Predictable emails are death. Nobody gets excited about boring.

Good poker players keep everyone guessing. Conservative one minute, aggressive the next. You can’t figure out their pattern.

Your emails need that same unpredictability. Monday might be a helpful tutorial. Wednesday? Tell them about the disaster that happened in your office. Friday could spotlight a customer or offer an exclusive deal.

I had a client who mixed industry insights with personal stories and product updates. Their open rates jumped 40% because subscribers genuinely didn’t know what was coming next. In a good way.

4. Master Your Timing Like a Pro

In poker, timing can be everything. Email marketing isn’t life-or-death, but timing still matters way more than most people think.

Send that perfect email at the wrong time? Straight to digital hell.

Your people have habits. Maybe they scroll through emails with their morning coffee. Or they check their phone during the 3 PM energy crash. Some folks are weekend browsers. Others strictly keep email to work hours.

Test everything. Different times, different days. I once saw the exact same email perform 60% better just by switching from Tuesday to Thursday.

Don’t guess. Use your data. Most email platforms show you when your subscribers are actually online. Use that information.

5. Bluff Effectively, but Don’t Overdo It

Bluffing in poker is an art. In email marketing, it’s your subject line game.

You want intrigue without being a liar. There’s a thin line between compelling and clickbait garbage.

“The biggest mistake I see in email marketing” beats “Email marketing tips” every time. But if your email doesn’t actually talk about a big mistake, you’ve just broken trust.

I learned this the hard way. Early on, I wrote attention-grabbing subject lines that had nothing to do with the actual content. Great open rates at first, but engagement crashed. People felt tricked.

Your subject line should get them excited about valuable content that actually delivers.

Ready to Up Your Game?

Look, email marketing doesn’t need to be rocket science. But it should be strategic.

These aren’t just poker principles—they’re human nature. When you get this right, email marketing stops being another annoying channel and becomes a real connection with your audience.

Pick one tip. Master it. Then move to the next. Before you know it, you’ll be playing email marketing like you’ve been doing it for years.