Born in Torrance, California, Kristy began life as a traveler with her family who moved to various locations in Southern California when she was young. With a father who was an avid poker player - retiring early to be a full-time pro - Kristy was exposed to poker at a young age. Besides playing cards, she was a competitive swimmer and studied judo, always looking for hobbies that would satisfy her craving for competition. Deciding in her late teens that age wasn't going to keep her from playing poker in the casinos, she began to play at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles with a fake ID. She started at low-limit games, learned a variety of them beginning with seven-card stud, and moved up the ladder enough to make an income from the game.

In her early 20's, Kristy pursued her interest in filmmaking by working as an editor and post-production coordinator on various documentaries. While the film industry was a passion for her, she found that her true living was to be made at the poker tables. She even worked for a time as a host at the Bicycle Casino and a prop player at the Pechanga Casino, where the experience was just what she needed. She began experimenting with tournaments and found moderate success in the 1990's. By 2001, she made a World Series of Poker final table in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event, and the poker community realized that she was not only a skilled player, but her skills ran the gamut of games. She became a fixture on the tournament circuit - while never ignoring a juicy cash game in the process - and for a time was married to fellow poker pro Bill Gazes with whom she traveled.

Kristy's successes in poker include numerous final tables and tournament cashes. She has made her mark on the World Poker Tour by finishing 21st at the 2004 Bay 101 Shooting Stars event, cashing in the UltimateBet Poker Classic later that year, cashing twice in 2005 and three times in 2006, placing 16th at the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic, and even finishing in the money again in 2007 at the Bellagio Cup. In addition, she won the FullTilt Poker Championship in 2005 for $250,000 and was given much kudos for her seventh place finish in the 2007 Aussie Millions main event. Most recently, she acquired her long-sought after goal of taking a WPT title when she won the 2007 Ladies Night invitational event. While she continues to play poker live and online Kristy has also recently become involved in real estate and stock market trading, and she hopes to semi-retire in the near future, move to Hawaii, and play poker when her leisure time permits.