The Tachi Palace's Card Room Manager John T. Stewart, a former professional singer with a heart for hard rock, could be considered the Mick Jagger of his business. Born in Santa Cruz, California in 1971, Stewart is nowhere near as old as Jagger, but he has staying power in a business that, in some instances, has a very high turnover rate. Stewart is the kind of guy who is loyal and likes structure, and with over seven years at Tachi Palace, this rocker turned card room manager believes he has the best gig in town.

His sense of loyalty extends to his players, who he considers to be like family, his staff, and his community. Tachi Palace is in Lemoore California, a working class community that has been hit hard by the recession; even so, they are proud to employ over 1,400 people and have not laid off a single worker during this recession. As thanks to the community they host an annual celebrity poker event that benefits the Ronald McDonald house with Jerry Yang the 2007 WSOP Main Event Champ as the 2009 host.

Stewart began his career in gaming as an 18 year old in a Native American bingo hall and says that there have been many changes over the years. Not the least of which is the explosion of tournament poker since the 2003 WSOP when Moneymaker won.

The first and third Saturday of every month through May is when they spread the highly popular WSOP Qualifiers at 11a.m. These events draw players around California and beyond. Cash play is suspended for a few hours to accommodate the events that typically sell out by 9:30 a.m. the day of the event

The second Saturday of every month features $5,000 monthly freeroll for all players with at least 50 hours of play. Saturdays without a WSOP or freeroll event is a $40 buy-in plus two $10 add-ons tournament.

Live games include low and mid limits, as well as no-limit games in the roomy state-of-the-art 10 table room. Most of the spreads are a $1-$3 blind structure with a $60-$500 buy-in spread and a $2-$5 blind structure with a $200- $1,000 buy-in spread. They also occasionally spread a $5-$10 no-limit game with a $500 min.-no max buy-in. Stewart says that many of the players seem like the deeper stack buy-in structures.

Regularly scheduled no-limit Hold 'em tournaments include a$65 buy-in (no re-buy) event on Tuesday, and a $55 buy-in (no re-buy) event on Wednesday, both at 7 p.m. On Fridays they spread a $40 buy-in plus 2 optional $10 add-ons at 11a.m.

Stewart feels fortunate to work for Table Games Director, David Viau who gives him tremendous freedom and opportunity to run the poker program as he sees fit, and he is thankful to have a job doing something that "I am passionate about and I enjoy immensely."

Because of the economic situation Stewart says, "People are making careful choices about where they spend their entertainment dollar and I don't blame them. My job is to give them the very best experience I can while they are here." He does this with around the clock promotions and a crew that Stewart feels is the best in the state

Stewart would like to thank the incredibly loyal player base for their continued patronage, and he would like to encourage anyone that hasn't visited Tachi Palace to give them a try. You can join Tachi Palace on Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tachi-Palace-Poker-Room/357133889823 or follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TachiPokerRoom. The direct number for the poker room is 559-925-5854.