Troubled Poker Pro Jordan Cristos Gets Jail Time for Threatening WPT Boss, Judge
Jordan Cristos, charged with multiple crimes in June, was sentenced on Wednesday in a Las Vegas court for threatening a judge and World Poker Tour (WPT) CEO Adam Pliska.
The poker pro with over $3.6 million in live tournament cashes, The Hendon Mob's database shows, has been locked up in the Clark County Detention Center for five months. He only cashed in one World Series of Poker (WSOP) event this summer, an online event on June 8.
Poker Pro's Self-Inflicted Legal Troubles
Cristos, who won the WPT Legends of Poker at The Bicycle Casino in 2013, found himself charged in June with multiple offenses related to stalking, threatening, and domestic violence. He was sentenced on Sept. 18 for the domestic violence charge and spent a month in jail for that offense.
The conclusion of that sentence was far from the end of his legal troubles. He still had to deal with the stalking and threatening portions of his alleged crimes, one for threatening Family Court judge Regina McConnell and another for threatening Pliska. Those crimes to which he pleaded guilty came with a 14 to 48-month sentence imposed by District Judge Monica Trujillo.
“I am extremely concerned by your prior history, by your repetitive behavior,” Trujillo told the poker pro during Thursday's sentencing, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. “I do understand rehabilitation. However, it’s clear to the court that even when you had help and you had the required counseling, that for some reason … if something doesn’t go your way, that you continue to harass people and you continue to even violate multiple times prior orders.”
The 38-year-old poker player from California didn't fully admit to his crime as he didn't enter a standard plea. He instead entered an Alford plea, a type of guilty plea where the defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to convict.
Cristos, who won a U.S. Poker Open event in 2019, is alleged to have made threats against Pliska and McConnell, who had been overseeing a child custody case involving Cristos.
Prosecutors, as per the plea deal, agreed to dismiss a separate stalking case against Cristos, who has also been charged with stalking Leon Wheeler, Director of Poker Operations at Resorts World in Las Vegas.
Cristos, despite being an accomplished poker pro, has been known within the poker community for his erratic behavior on social media. He often verbally attacks and insults others in poker, although it appears his X account has been deactivated.
