In breaking news from the Merge Gaming Network site Lock Poker, Jose Girah Macedo (pictured), who won last month’s Bluff Pro Challenge, has been disqualified for multi-accounting. Macedo bested a bevy of players in the Pro Challenge last month, a promotion that featured Bluff Magazine and PokerNewsBoy as its co-sponsors. Lock Poker is still taking players from the United States.

Jennifer Larson, CEO and owner of Lock Poker, commented in a press release distributed by the site on Wednesday, “Jose is young and he has made a big mistake here. We wanted to make sure that regardless of being a Lock Pro he won this fair and square. After doing an audit of his account, we have found that he broke some rules, and that will not be tolerated by Lock.”

Larson added, “We pride ourselves in standing for trust, legitimacy, and loyalty. The truth is sometimes hard to stand by, but it is the only way we can move forward. Although Jose won enough money from his own IP to have legitimately won the challenge, the unfortunate fact remains that breaking the rules is strictly disallowed. The fact remains Jose is an exceptional player and I firmly believe that mistakes only lead to greatness if learned from.”

Lock Poker officials discovered another computer logging into Lock Poker on Macedo’s behalf, a violation of the site’s and the Merge Gaming Network’s Terms of Service. Macedo revealed that his backer was the mystery party in question and logged in to check his account balance. While logged in, his backer proceeded to play $25/$50 Pot Limit Omaha.

Macedo commented in the same Lock Poker press release, “Though on the merit of my own legitimate play, I had enough winnings to win the Bluff Challenge, in light of the way things appear, I fully support and respect Lock’s decision to disqualify me and hand over the challenge to the second place winner. Once again, I truly regret that all of this has happened the way it has and I hope that I can win back the generous support and understanding of the players who have believed in me so far.”

Michael bigguylegend22Drummond, who originally finished in second place, is the new Bluff Pro Challenge winner after amassing over $90,000 in earnings over the course of April. The 24-year-old online poker player from New Hampshire has a heart for Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em and sports two laptops along with a 42-inch monitor in his poker setup.

Ring games, multi-table tournaments, and sit and gos on Lock Poker all qualified for the Bluff Pro Challenge standings. The winner was scheduled to receive a two-year Lock Poker sponsorship and would be featured in a six-month ad campaign by the online poker site. Lock Poker features longtime PocketFives.com member Eric Rizen Lynch (pictured) as its Poker Room Manager, a position he was promoted to in January.

Other Lock Poker pros include Matt All In At 420Stout, Joseph JOEYTHEBBrooks, Brett gankJungblut, and Joe Conno!!y Connolly.

If you’re from the United States, or somewhere else in the world, and looking for a new online poker site in the post-Black Friday era, then check out Lock Poker. The two-year-old room offers 35% rakeback.

Plus, if you sign up for Lock Poker rakebackthrough PocketFives.com and deposit, you’ll be eligible to win a brand new iPad 2. Just sign up using the bonus code P5IPAD2before May 31st. Then, rake $1,000 within 60 days of your first deposit. When you do, we’ll send you the hot new Apple product. It’s that simple, so get started now.

Visit Lock Poker for more details on the Bluff Pro Challenge.