Kristy Gazes represents a growing number of women who have proved that gender has nothing to do with being a winning poker player. Nicknamed Kristy "Mixed Games" Gazes for her prowess in many different forms of poker, she has played against, and busted, some of the best players in the world.

Kristy was born in Torrance, Calif., but her family was always on the move, living all over southern California while she was growing up. Her father was an avid poker player who retired at the age of 50 to play full time but unfortunately passed away before he could make that dream a reality.

In her childhood years Kristy was a competitive swimmer and practiced judo. At around the age of 14 she began to get into more and more trouble. A self-described "juvenile delinquent," Kristy learned to play poker in her late teens by sneaking into the Commerce Casino armed only with a fake ID and a hunger for the competition available at the poker table. After getting the hang of Seven-Card Stud she quickly became a regular on the felt.

Kristy has always been a hands-on person when it comes to picking up new skills. Preferring to learn her poker lessons the hard way, at the table, she has admitted to never actually reading a poker book all the way through. Among the books that she has perused are Doyle Brunson's Super/System and volumes 1 and 2 of Dan Harrington's Hold'em tutorials.

Kristy enjoyed moderate success in low-limit games which gave her the freedom to pursue her interest in filmmaking. She worked as an editor and post-production coordinator on documentaries which paid little to nothing, and it was't long before it became obvious that poker was her best bet for making any real money. She began to play for higher stakes and soon found herself sitting at some of the biggest cash games in LA. The biggest pot she can remember taking down was a whopping $80,000 during a Pot-Limit Omaha game in Tunica, Miss.

Gazes has also had jobs within the poker industry apart from being a pro. She worked for a short time as a host at the Bicycle Casino in L.A. in 2004 and was also a proposition player at the Pechanga Casino in California where she kept the late night games alive.

A relative newcomer to the world of big tournament poker, Kristy quickly adapted her mixed game style and started focusing more on No-Limit Hold'em. She admits to still making mistakes, especially in the later stages of tourneys, but focuses on learning from her blunders rather than letting them get to her. Despite this, she has been successful in translating her mixed cash game background to tournament play.

She has cashed in tens of events and made countless final tables, including the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event at the 2001 World Series of Poker where she place fifth. Her most notable accomplishment so far though came in 2005 when she won the FullTiltPoker.net Championship at the Wynn in Las Vegas, beating seasoned veteran Ted Forrest in heads-up play to take home a cool $250,000.

Nowadays Kristy is phasing poker out of her life bit by bit. She has cut her online playing time down considerably but still hosts a $1-$2 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo game at Full Tilt Poker where players can take advantage of her many years of experience. Balancing poker with real estate and stock market speculation has given her the time to spend much of the year in Hawaii where she hopes to someday move full time. Her plans for the future are to semi-retire from poker and live in Hawaii, surfing and riding horses.