Anti-smoking poker player, musician Macchiaverna dies

Joseph Macchiaverna may long be remembered in poker circles as the eccentric player who wore a military gas mask at tournaments to protest smoking at the tables.

But he was much more than that. He was a one-time Las Vegas restaurateur and an accomplished pianist and violinist. And despite a temper he never tried to mask, he did OK on the professional poker circuit.

On June 14 Macchiaverna placed seventh in the $300 buy-in limit 7-card stud event at the California State Poker Championships at the Commerce Club. The next day, he made it to the final three tables of the $300 buy-in no-limit Texas hold 'em event.

But when he did not return to his seat following a break in that game, tournament officials went to look for Macchiaverna. They found him on a bench slumped over and called paramedics. Macchiaverna died Saturday, four days after being stricken by that undisclosed ailment. He was 78.

"Joe was very competitive -- he hated to lose," Linda Johnson, publisher of Card Player magazine, said. "He was a little grumpy, but I believe he had a good heart."

Services for Macchiaverna, who lived in Las Vegas 39 years, will be 10 a.m. Friday at Christ the King Church, 4925 S. Torrey Pines Drive. Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. today at that location. Burial will be in Palm Memorial Park.

As his career as a poker player blossomed, Macchiaverna made it clear to those who sat around him that he would not tolerate smoke at the table. At first he placed a small fan in front of him. Later he wore a white surgical mask.

However, a few years ago at the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe, he showed up wearing a military gas mask. Photographers gathered around the masked Macchiaverna to snap pictures that appeared in newspapers around the world.

"He simply couldn't stand smoke and that was his way of protesting," Johnson, the 1997 world 7-card razz champion, said. "He would glare at players who lit up."

Longtime Las Vegas gaming analyst and photographer Larry Grossman said the gas mask certainly made Macchiaverna "visually interesting."

"He was a fixture at the World Series of Poker and he will be missed," said Grossman, who hosts the "You Can Bet on It" gaming radio talk show that begins its 10th season in August on KBAD 920-AM.

"He made you visualize how he felt about smoking. And he played poker with the best players in the world."

In recent years Las Vegas poker rooms have banned cigar and pipe smoking, though cigarette smoking is still allowed. Also, a few years ago, officials of the World Series of Poker prohibited spectators from smoking while they stood along the rails.

Born July 24, 1920, in Binghamton, N.Y., Macchiaverna was a World War II Navy veteran.

He came to Las Vegas in 1960 and for a while operated Macchiaverna's Italian restaurant, where he employed singing waiters. Macchiaverna loved music and was a world class musician.

"I heard him play -- he was an excellent violinist," Johnson said. "He made tape recordings of his music that he sold.

"And he always took great pride in his looks. He had such a nice smile, especially when he raked in a large pot."

Macchiaverna sported wavy well-kept white-gray hair and a pencil-thin white-gray moustache.

Although he won or placed in the money at his fair share of tournament events, Macchiaverna could have done even better if he didn't get so easily rattled, other players said.

"Certainly his temper did not help him as a player," Johnson said. "Still, he was a high-profile character."

Among his poker accomplishments, Macchiaverna placed fifth in the 1997 $1,500 buy-in limit 7-card stud world championship and 39th in the 1991 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold 'em championship.

Macchiaverna is survived by his wife, Darlene Macchiaverna; three sons, Louis Macchiaverna and Andrew Macchiaverna, both of New Jersey, and Joseph Macchiaverna Jr. of Las Vegas; one brother, John Macchiaverna, and one sister, Stella Baum, both of New Jersey; and three grandchildren.

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