Macedo had earned numerous interviews and press that helped lead to his becoming a featured pro at Lock Poker and a coach at PokerStrategy.com with over 80 students. The first sign of trouble appeared in April when he was disqualified from the Lock Pro challenge for multi-accounting that he explained was an isolated incident where his backer played on his account.
When the latest news broke and was confirmed from multiple sources, Lock CEO/Owner Jennifer Larson expressed her disappointment and disgust with Macedo’s actions:
“All of us at Lock are horrified and incredibly disappointed by Jose’s actions. Within 10 minutes of finding out about the fraudulent behavior his LockPRO contract was terminated and his account was banned permanently. says Jennifer Larson Owner/CEO “At Lock our philosophy is based on building a deep relationship with our players and at the core of this is trust, legitimacy and loyalty. Jose’s has defrauded the players, the art of poker and the basic human relationship. LockPRO is a strong team of great people and will continue to find like minded, trust worthy, passionate players who will make us proud to be in this industry.”
Macedo's essential fraud was he setup a private study group with other high-stakes pros, and would “sweat” these players, all the while playing against them from another account –in effect becoming an external super-user.Macedo's early apology listed below didn't find sympathy with the poker community with subsequent information and Skype chat logs were released of conversations with those cheated players.
I’m going to be taking a break for a while. There is no right or wrong way to say any of this, so I’m just going to say what happened.
A while ago, I did something stupid. A friend of mine, who I introduced to poker, made a suggestion to me which was, I’m not going to sugar coat it, cheating. I had introduced this friend to poker and he was losing money, badly. He asked to play some of my poker friends and said why don’t you sweat them and we’ll see their hands. I don’t know why I agreed. I don’t know why I did it. I guess it was a mixture of guilt and stupidity and feeling ****ty for getting him involved in something which seemed to be bad for him.
This went on for a short while but I felt so bad, I had to say something. I confessed. I told the guys involved what I had done, I told my friends and the people who I respect and who respected me.
I told my Mum, confessed everything to her. I could see the disappointment moving across her face as she told me she was not proud of me despite all my success in poker; she was not proud of her son. She said how she hadn’t raised me this way and what had poker done to me. Thats when it hit me, how badly I had let people down. I felt ashamed, I had no explanation; explanations don’t cut it in situations like this and often come across as excuses.
There is a quote on the wall in my school which I always see as I pass the nurse’s office. It says that the real mistake is not tripping up, but staying down. I thought of that and that’s why I’m writing this.
I’m holding my hands up and taking whatever consequences come. I realise the severity of this, but I also realise that I have to take responsibility for my actions and so I’m paying back everyone involved and in addition paying them compensation of $30,000. I’ve also told my sponsor etc and whatever happens there I will take the consequences too. They have been really amazing to me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with them. Representing Lock and being part of their amazing team, witnessing the incredible growth, was a pleasure and an honor.
I’m young, I made a mistake and I hope that this doesn’t define me; I hope that how I deal with this and move forward is the thing that does. And people will say I have no excuse and I know and understand that. I agree. I just want to let everyone know, I’m sorry. I apologise to the guys who lost their money, the people who I love and care about and I have disappointed and the guys in the poker world who have supported me for letting them down. I wish Ish I had something to say to you all, to say to my parents and my friends and all of those who thought I could do no wrong.
Again I’m really sorry.
The timing couldn't have been worse for Cates and Qureshi who were flying to Portugal to live with Macedo for a few months. They have canceled those plans and are working hard to distance themselves from their friend and stakee. What level of personal involvement they had beyond poor judgment and multi-accounting are yet to be determined. Qureshi has already been terminated from his position as CardRunners instructor and video maker due to showing "poor judgement in using a stakee's poker account for his own play."A while ago, I did something stupid. A friend of mine, who I introduced to poker, made a suggestion to me which was, I’m not going to sugar coat it, cheating. I had introduced this friend to poker and he was losing money, badly. He asked to play some of my poker friends and said why don’t you sweat them and we’ll see their hands. I don’t know why I agreed. I don’t know why I did it. I guess it was a mixture of guilt and stupidity and feeling ****ty for getting him involved in something which seemed to be bad for him.
This went on for a short while but I felt so bad, I had to say something. I confessed. I told the guys involved what I had done, I told my friends and the people who I respect and who respected me.
I told my Mum, confessed everything to her. I could see the disappointment moving across her face as she told me she was not proud of me despite all my success in poker; she was not proud of her son. She said how she hadn’t raised me this way and what had poker done to me. Thats when it hit me, how badly I had let people down. I felt ashamed, I had no explanation; explanations don’t cut it in situations like this and often come across as excuses.
There is a quote on the wall in my school which I always see as I pass the nurse’s office. It says that the real mistake is not tripping up, but staying down. I thought of that and that’s why I’m writing this.
I’m holding my hands up and taking whatever consequences come. I realise the severity of this, but I also realise that I have to take responsibility for my actions and so I’m paying back everyone involved and in addition paying them compensation of $30,000. I’ve also told my sponsor etc and whatever happens there I will take the consequences too. They have been really amazing to me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with them. Representing Lock and being part of their amazing team, witnessing the incredible growth, was a pleasure and an honor.
I’m young, I made a mistake and I hope that this doesn’t define me; I hope that how I deal with this and move forward is the thing that does. And people will say I have no excuse and I know and understand that. I agree. I just want to let everyone know, I’m sorry. I apologise to the guys who lost their money, the people who I love and care about and I have disappointed and the guys in the poker world who have supported me for letting them down. I wish Ish I had something to say to you all, to say to my parents and my friends and all of those who thought I could do no wrong.
Again I’m really sorry.
For his part, the sudden rise and fall of Jose "Girah" Macedo seems complete as he indicated he had little desire to continue in poker and that the news would crush his family and reputation.
