I am José "Girah" Macedo, the so-called "Portuguese Poker Prodigy" - Page 75 - Poker News

Finally I can say it now, for all the peopel who were "believers", and were constantly smashin the rational people in the thread, raising rational suspicions, you all just got owned by your hero boy.

And I shoudl say this, there is no way humanly possible this kid acted all alone, going from 16 year ols poor kid in Portugal, to havign access to hundreds of thousands of dollars online, and access to some of the most respected names in the game vouching for him, there is undoubtedly MUCH MORE TO THE STORY, and obv HS regs involved in this.

He couldnt have had the resources to do this all alone, so now the real problem is getting the people really behind this to confess, and im not talkign about Jose. Hopefully he sees the light and just comes completly clean in a tell all book or something. Haseeb and Cates should be worried.

Very little if what has been said in this thread has much bearing on Jose scamming other high stakes pros through Skype.

08-07-2011 , 09:54 AM

#1852

Masq

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 15,027

haters gonna hate, jealous broke NVG tards put up the $100k if you don't believe him.

08-07-2011 , 09:54 AM

#1853

Tryst_

banned

Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 5,093

imo

08-07-2011 , 09:56 AM

#1854

The OG

journeyman

Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 323

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masq

haters gonna hate, jealous broke NVG tards put up the $100k if you don't believe him.

lol u clown

08-07-2011 , 09:56 AM

#1855

DublingUp

banned

Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 780

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harlequin99

Very little if what has been said in this thread has much bearing on Jose scamming other high stakes pros through Skype.

Im saying, theres no way possible, a kid of his youth, and lack of resources just a few years ago, concoucted this entire plan and put it in play, entirely on his own.

This whole recent meltdown of Skype scamming his "freinds" on HSNL is just the first domino to fall imo, theres so much more that went on, tons more. he couldnt have enacted such an elaborate WELL FUNDED scheme entirely on his own at 16 from an impoverished upbringing and enviroment in Portugal. He surely had guiding hands.

08-07-2011 , 09:58 AM

#1856

_UM

old hand

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,987

ok so this was obv one giant level. But can we confirm that people actually got scammed out of real money? Or are the people claiming to be scammed just part of the way to kill off the character. Has to be that right as the alternative is that there was a cheating ring full of hs regs.

08-07-2011 , 10:01 AM

#1857

Masq

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 15,027

This is the tip of the iceberg, right? I haven't read the whole of the other thread yet but the backers, his new room-mates etc. There's more shady stuff going on.

08-07-2011 , 10:06 AM

#1858

randyd501

banned

Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 341

Quote:

Originally Posted by DublingUp

Totally agree this is just the beginning of what was going on...time for 2+2ers to unearth the rest of the skype clan

08-07-2011 , 10:08 AM

#1859

_UM

old hand

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,987

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOG IS HEAD

And so it begins...

this was post 7 itt. man this **** is just too funny.

08-07-2011 , 11:21 AM

#1860

NexusWR

grinder

Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 599

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctesseractyl

What is 100% untrue is Girah's blog post here: http://www.girahpoker.com/blog/on_ge...uff_challenge1

The point I wish to make in as clear, simplified, and understandable words as I can attempt is the following:

*Jose, Haseeb, and others TOOK A STORY which they had no control over (namely the press release which he had no control over) and he INVENTED A MODEL to explain the part he had no control over. There is a fine book which I have also read (see the first post here) where OP cites the two ways to handle bad press:

In this example, team Girah, Haseeb, and company chose step A. These guys are good liars and have created a BLOG ENTRY which explains BAD PRESS in the most clever, effective, and non-obvious way possible. The truth could have been 100 different things other than what they're telling. What I'm trying to point out is that ordinarily Jose's actions are what causes the bad press which causes the blog entry. This is how normal, decent people operate. I'm trying to point out that they skip the first link, and work backwards. They look at the press release, and say "oh ****" to themselves, then they create a model to explain the bad stuff that happened. Do you really think a 19yo can write as well as Haseeb? Haseeb is an incredible writer and my next post some day will be the efforts I've done so far trying to prove that Haseeb is the principle author of Jose's blog, not Jose.

I hope if you compare the blog entry to what Mendel did in the MIT itunes video, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

***CLIFFNOTES: Jose's apologetic blog post was written by a master of public-relations tactics 101. He looked at the facts which everyone else would eventually see (because we on 2p2 have limited information, and are not privy to the full story--that is in fact what keeps us in the dark because we know only a handful of stories about this guy, who turned out to be shadier than the pre-teaser thread started hear: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...02&postcount=1

****Super-tight cliffs**** Basically, every "update" which Jose & Company will ever give inquisitive people is information which quasi-perfectly explains our suspicions. Everything else, either he will never answer, say he is under strict orders from his lawyer not to answer, or tries to make it sound "bad for him to answer, in that it will worsen the suspicions" etc...

Recommendation: buy the book propaganda and you'll be doubtless that Jose & company are exceedingly duplicitous, but they'll always come across bigger fish and people with bigger IQ's than they estimate. Especially when other people early on catch onto the suspicion and raise eyebrows and lure in the crushing skeptics like myself or RangeyMcTriplMerge!

My favourite part is how his new confession is exactly the same as his old confession

08-07-2011 , 11:29 AM

#1861

doctesseractyl

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 172

Quote:

Originally Posted by DublingUp

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctesseractyl

Who would honestly try something like this and leave an 18 yo kid's reputation ruined forever if this kid gets exposed (through like disqualification of a Bluff Pro Challenge or something, and subsequent dodging of only 4 repeated questions) which is about the same as doing a prop bet on whether someone can run 70 miles on a treadmill, ya know? Who cares if a person's life is ruined or their health, when they're young, immature, and their friends will abandon them if something goes wrong.

The answer is Haseeb, and if "something goes wrong" he along with Jungleman already have their golden parachute, which is why I urge a sharp pivot onto them. Jose is RIP, but he was just a pawn, now let's let the evidence show us who is the kingpin. I hope we give Jose a real chance to come forward and tell us what he knows about Haseeb/Jungelman's involvement, other than the fact Haseeb wrote this OP and that Haseeb registered the domain name "Girah Poker" which Haseeb has already confessed to. Now Jose has less to lose, and his "BATNA" would suggest he will sever ties with them, and tell all pretty soon. (sorry for those who don't study this type of stuff from business school) If Jose comes forward and tells what he knows (and provides chat logs or emails too) then he earns my acceptance of his fake/insincere apology he wrote, which was simply damage control, like absurdly trying to earn the 2p2 sympathy of his mum's disappointing frown. It's game over for him, while Haseeb's & jungleman's reputations both come out unscathed because they had their golden parachute already designed and pre-engineered too, which I hope we can expose like myself & rangey have done and plan to do anyway, even if no one helps us.

Whoever steers a young kid into ruining his life, character, and good name is just the lowest of the low. I would like Ashton to comment if Haseeb would do something like this to immature, naive Jose, and place a negative freeroll on his life, just for a prop bet or leveling. I'm pretty sure that sauce123 is the most clean so I don't group him the phrase "Jose & Company" which I chiefly use in reference to Jose/Haseeb/Jungleman. I don't think sauce123 has much involvement in all this because I have no information which ties him in. Let's hope we get some good leads today and tomorrow. Good luck to those who feel great right now, bringing a prodigious falsity to the shining power of truth!

08-07-2011 , 11:31 AM

#1862

RangeyMcTriplmerge

old hand

Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 1,467

Quote:

Originally Posted by girah

Within a couple of months, I was playing 400NL and studying poker religiously. For 6 hours a day I would just analyze the game, going through every single regular’s hand histories as well as my own. I made long, detailed notes (To this day I have 100+ pages of notes on people on my computer) and would try to dissect every single little hand, even the most commonplace ones.

I kept pushing forward. I started to believe there wasn't anything I couldn’t accomplish if I put my mind to it.

I would round up a list of all the regs who I thought were the strongest, and tried to contact each and every one of them to get an insight into their thinking, ask why they did this or that. It was at this point that I truly began to understand poker and everything was starting to click. I would watch videos of all of the best video makers over and over again and take notes on what they did differently from me and why. To this day I have 35 pages of notes on training videos. I eventually broke into $5/$10 and started beating the limit: I began to surpass the people I was learning from, moving higher and higher in the stakes, and I felt unstoppable. It was at this point that the idea of becoming the best poker player in the world really seemed like it was within my grasp.

I cycled to and fro for a while. I was learning from some of the best players in the world, working on my game, all while trying to balance family and high school. It wasn’t easy and I faltered at times, but finally by the end of summer I was ready to take my first shots at nosebleeds. They didn’t go quite as planned the first time around. I got to revel in my first +$100k day, and I got to wallow in my first -$200k loss. There were lots of ups and downs, but I felt grateful for it everyday. I felt like I was finally in that arena that I had dreamed of all this time. Despite the swings, I used some of the money I made to buy a house that house in Hawaii for us. Everything seemed to be going right.

I remember as a schoolboy reading the Greek myths. And in the myths when humans would get too cocky the Gods would come down, smack them around a little, and remind them of their fallibility and insignificance. Even the greatest warriors had to learn to be modest. Haha, that sounds really cheeky but I’m just happy to be climbing this mountain called poker. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and all that I’ve managed to accomplish in this time, but I’m far from done.

I look up from my desk, and there’s a board suspended on the wall. I made it a year ago when I was 17, when reaching the top of the poker world was still just a silly fantasy. On this board there are four pictures cut out and pasted… a crisp green million dollar bill, a picture of a WSOP bracelet, a screenshot of Durrrr sitting at Rail Heaven, and a photo of a little house in Hawaii. And as I’m looking at this silly little board I made, my mind wanders to where I started my journey. I remember standing at the foot of this mountain, a 16 year old boy, looking up with dreamlike wonder. Imagining what it would be like to scale its peak. I’m not at the foot of the mountain anymore, but my story has just begun. And although sometimes this mountain can seem dauntingly tall… I’m ready for it. And I’m grateful for this chance to climb it.

QFcringe

08-07-2011 , 12:03 PM

#1863

doctesseractyl

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 172

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOG IS HEAD

Hey guys,

This whole situation has come as a huge surprise to all of us who've been supporting Jose. No one ever imagined he could do something like this, and honestly I still have difficulty understanding his motives. We've been traveling to Europe (Jungle and I have been in Gibraltar for the last few days) and as such, I had to be very brief, with having to wade through all of the commotion in what's happened from every end. Since Jungle and I decided that we no longer can be with Jose after the way he's betrayed our trust, we have changed our plans from Portugal and are now trying to sort out another place to live within Europe. This whole situation is a huge cluster**** to say the least.

Right now it's very difficult for me to spend a lot of time on 2p2, but as I've heard that the rumors and speculation are running rampant, I will say this and I will say it as emphatically and clearly as I can. None of us who supported Jose had any idea about any of this. None of us. We supported Jose and believed in him singlemindedly, I will admit that. I personally had a very strong relationship with the kid. I don't know why, but none of us who believed in him ever imagined he had it in him to be so greedy and dishonest to do something like this. Clearly, we were wrong, and as was I to place our faith in him. What he did was really ****ed up and inexcusable. I may be able to write more once Jungle and I secure a place to live and lay our heads, but for the moment we are very all over the place. But for everyone who thinks that there is some huge conspiracy or that Jose is a puppet for some high stakes scamming ring - get a ****ing grip, ffs.

Suffice it to say, the OP speaks for itself. I wish the best to all of the victims in dealing with this.

Haseeb

And to prove it, Haseeb will wager any amount between $100k & $600k that everything in his "damage control & distancing post" is 100% true.

/thread

08-07-2011 , 12:15 PM

#1864

brrrap!

banned

Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 1,096

What I learned from this: microstakes droolers have better reads than highstakers players. Well played the bustos!

Also very obvious DogIsHead / Hasseeb Whateverhisnameis is behind all this, hopefully the proofs come out.

08-07-2011 , 12:19 PM

#1865

MilkMan

veteran

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,169

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctesseractyl

Exactly this!!! I have Haseeb behind this, full of analysis & how he wrote the majority of Jose's blogs & whom I actually suspect (rather than Jose) to be the ghost behind the 7 shill accounts! This was all a negative freeroll for Jose, in case something went wrong that Haseeb & Jungleman would distance themselves & Jose would have no credibility left to tell the truth even if he wanted to (just like Full Tilt Poker's counter-statement to Ivey's jawdropping bombshell and lawsuit, before NoahSD's article on Subject Poker sorta confirming it's plausibility) since no one would believe Jose instead of Haseeb + Jungleman, who have their "exit strategies" already being enacted, which is why I'm not finished here at all in this thread--I'm just getting started now that everybody is finally listening, and I've seemingly got everyone's attention now. Rangey and I have done more work than is sane, because we're both the obsessive type & care more about this than anyone can possibly understand.

I want to put the jose story to rest and hopefully direct this onto Haseeb & Jungleman, with the ongoing proof I have, and hopefully more developments today & tomorrow. Everything we have relied on has been anecdotal or circumstantial, but the evidence is nonetheless damning and I hope it leads to more investigation into Haseeb/Jungleman because Jose was just the pawn, as I outlined already 26 hours ago, before the bombshell thread began:

The answer is Haseeb, and if "something goes wrong" he along with Jungleman already have their golden parachute, which is why I urge a sharp pivot onto them. Jose is RIP, but he was just a pawn, now let's let the evidence show us who is the kingpin. I hope we give Jose a real chance to come forward and tell us what he knows about Haseeb/Jungelman's involvement, other than the fact Haseeb wrote this OP and that Haseeb registered the domain name "Girah Poker" which Haseeb has already confessed to. Now Jose has less to lose, and his "BATNA" would suggest he will sever ties with them, and tell all pretty soon. (sorry for those who don't study this type of stuff from business school) If Jose comes forward and tells what he knows (and provides chat logs or emails too) then he earns my acceptance of his fake/insincere apology he wrote, which was simply damage control, like absurdly trying to earn the 2p2 sympathy of his mum's disappointing frown. It's game over for him, while Haseeb's & jungleman's reputations both come out unscathed because they had their golden parachute already designed and pre-engineered too, which I hope we can expose like myself & rangey have done and plan to do anyway, even if no one helps us.

Whoever steers a young kid into ruining his life, character, and good name is just the lowest of the low. I would like Ashton to comment if Haseeb would do something like this to immature, naive Jose, and place a negative freeroll on his life, just for a prop bet or leveling. I'm pretty sure that sauce123 is the most clean so I don't group him the phrase "Jose & Company" which I chiefly use in reference to Jose/Haseeb/Jungleman. I don't think sauce123 has much involvement in all this because I have no information which ties him in. Let's hope we get some good leads today and tomorrow. Good luck to those who feel great right now, bringing a prodigious falsity to the shining power of truth!

i think it is strongly worth considering the possibility that both sauce and jungleman are also being manipulated by the main player in this scam - but at least one of them is nowhere near as innocent as they are claiming. i mean a blind NVGtard could nearly tell that.

08-07-2011 , 12:24 PM

#1866

Masq

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 15,027

Haseeb isn't innocent. He struggled to beat the games and was trying to make his way in the poker world doing coaching for extortionate amounts of money. The final nail in his coffin was when he played Isildur and lost most of his roll. He packed up the computer and pretty much didn't play poker again. Unable to beat the games any more and short on money he needed a sure fire way to win. Enter the ruse of the young poker prodigy speaking to people on skype whilst looking at their hole cards. They'd have kept doing it except they couldn't take the heat any more.

08-07-2011 , 12:33 PM

#1867

doctesseractyl

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 172

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctesseractyl

Haha, interesting thread.

A friend of mine pointed this out to me. I haven't been on 2p2 much lately, but here's what I know.

I know this kid and have been talking to him for a while. His name is José, he approached me a while back for coaching (I'm not the aforementioned coach in this thread). He seemed extremely intelligent and hardworking. He told me that he studied poker 3 hours a day every day, just reviewing hands and breaking down his opponents. He said that in a matter of six months from when he started poker, he had gone from a micro stakes bankroll to becoming one of the biggest winners at 5/10-10/20 6-max and was trying to break his way into the 25/50 games. Now, in 2006 or 2005 you heard those kinds of stories often enough... but in 2010, that's an unbelievable progression up the stakes. And as if that weren't amazing enough, on top of all that - he was 17 years old.

I've talked to José quite a bit and have given him a lot of advice on various things, but since the very first moment I met this him, I knew he was a prodigy. I remember Sauce saying that he was probably on the road to becoming one of the strongest players in poker. AFAIK, he's approached both Sauce and Jungleman for coaching, and has tremendous knowledge and dedication to the game. Right now on American sites he's pretty unknown, but this kid has just turned 18 and is now positioned to take a serious run at the top of the poker world.

It's a pretty ****ing crazy story. I look forward to seeing what this guy can do with his career.

Haseeb

Surely this post speaks a lot. He judged Jose's poker skills, and lied about it. Saying "since the very first moment I met this him, I knew he was a prodigy" is a really strong type of endorsement and gave the benefit of the doubt to the wrong side, and everyone who was a "skeptic" became labeled a "hater" thanks in part to Haseeb/Jungleman's role in this. Anybody with decent intelligence can easily read this as a "hype up" attempt by Haseeb, and it fits the story as we now have uncovered it--that they were close enough to move in with each other by the year's end. Even the last sentence downplays his level of involvement in this whole thing. They knew each other enough when the post was written (Jan 25th--3 days after original thread was written by SearchingForProdigy shill) and obviously Haseeb watched the thread closely for the first 3 days from Jan 22nd through 25th. He always downplays that he is "never on" 2p2, just as a way to suggest him being the kingpin is implausible. We'll see the same "damage control" posts/blogs from Haseeb now that we saw from Jose, which is to analyze the situation and then build a convincing model which explains away the data which is, again, ex post facto.

There's guys like NoahSD who are on the front side of a story, leading the inquiry into truth. And then there are people who wait for sh*t to hit the fan, distance themselves after the fact, and downplay all involvement whatsoever. Haseeb's post didn't contain a single bit of useful information or additional insights, but to his credit, I'm thankful he posted something in response today rather than be silent. That's about the only thing he's got going for him at this point. Silence is usually an indicator of... (what this whole thread was about in June!)

See Rangey's post here: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=1715

08-07-2011 , 12:33 PM

#1868

RangeyMcTriplmerge

old hand

Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 1,467

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctesseractyl

And to prove it, Haseeb will wager any amount between $100k & $600k that everything in his "damage control & distancing post" is 100% true.

/thread

08-07-2011 , 12:59 PM

#1869

Gazillion

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 8,721

Sigh, now I feel like a huge dick for defending this guy early on in the thread. Thanks OP.

I guess now we just have to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

08-07-2011 , 01:00 PM

#1870

doctesseractyl

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 172

Quote:

Originally Posted by MilkMan

Yes! This is actually a very possible scenario, because there's no telling how the individual roles within the group operated. I hope something turns up good today or tomorrow. I've been desperate for leads, but hopefully today flushes out a few confessions as online players try to salvage their real-world reputations. Whoever comes out with the most openness today is probably the one I will trust the most. No telling what deals are being worked out to pay Jose to be silent. There is absolutely no way Jose acted alone! Now that there was a conspiracy, we can finally move forward because we're acting on a foundation, rather than hoping our speculation is accurate. That was the roadblock Rangey and I had, when we decided to start outing shills & cranking the screws to their neck, hopefully forcing a mistake or dodgy post.

Sad though, until we know who the kingpin is, I'm starting to feel sorry for Jose. Not only did this whole thing blow up in his face, it seems that he was perfectly set up to be the "fall guy" and go down alone. We as a community can't let that happen.

08-07-2011 , 01:05 PM

#1871

doctesseractyl

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 172

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazillion

Sigh, now I feel like a huge dick for defending this guy early on in the thread. Thanks OP.

I guess now we just have to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Gazillion, you're a good person, and your intentions were noble. I'm letting Rangey and everyone else know that.

I've studied all your posts trying to find your motive for defending Jose earlier on, and in pm's, but I have found that you're just a friendly/helpful guy who provides value here on 2p2.

08-07-2011 , 01:07 PM

#1872

The OG

journeyman

Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 323

Sauce just posted in the other thread. Sadly, it looks as if Jose intended to scam Sauce

telling him to get money on IPOKER to play a big fish

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=661

08-07-2011 , 01:12 PM

#1873

unomaas

centurion

Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 112

the ghoster!

08-07-2011 , 02:36 PM

#1874

suzzer99

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 100,195

Quote:

I remember as a schoolboy reading the Greek myths. And in the myths when humans would get too cocky the Gods would come down, smack them around a little, and remind them of their fallibility and insignificance. Even the greatest warriors had to learn to be modest. Haha, that sounds really cheeky but I’m just happy to be climbing this mountain called poker. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and all that I’ve managed to accomplish in this time, but I’m far from done.

looool