If you squint your eyes and are watching on a super-hi-def-super-big-screen and using CIA-quality video enhancement technology you can see it … Team Pokerati player/lasts-longest winner Whit Blanton appears at the featured table during Day 4 of the 2008 WSOP main event, proudly displaying his Pokerati patch during Jean-Robert Bellande’s safe-seeming-flop runner-runner bustout hand (where his Russian opponent menacingly says, “bye-bye” before the river).

Nice job, Whit! You played that hand perfectly (folding pre-flop) and performed a top-notch pullback upon realizing your attempt to shake Bellande’s hand goodbye stood a 94 percent chance of being left hanging.

Here’s the clip of Whit’s featured table appearance on ESPN (starting about halfway in, with handshake fun at about 7 minutes):

And if you’re interested in what really goes into the making of a WSOP episode, click below for some email correspondence between Whit and ESPN in preparing for his prime-time television debut:

More…

I know. Amidst the WSOP main event, the Tiffany Michelle hubbub, and the Russ Hamilton-UB connect-the-dots game, you’ve really been wondering, What ever happened to the awesomely exciting Pokerati Bowling Series?

We did have one final session, smack dab in the middle of the main event on July 11. One night, we just couldn’t take the Amazon Room for one more moment and headed over to the bowling alley at the Gold Coast. Prop bets ran amuck, and might I say that it became a bit (understatement) competitive. Team Pokerati member Whit Blanton came in a bit (understatement) tipsy from celebrating his WSOP main event cash and ESPN feature table appearance, Tuscaloosa Johnny smoked his Pokerati writing mates, and Team Pokerati player Jerry Randack took a ton of betting action from the sidelines. Short-stacked Shamus came up just a little short of his goals, but I can see a possible name change to Striker Shamus (or something more creative) if his last frame was any indication, and Haley fell short of her expectations and experienced a (understatement) bit of prop betting/bowling tilt. Harris just hustled us all.

PBS - Event 5 - Game 2A

PBS - Event 5 - Game 2B

All in all, for most of us, it was a great way to end the PBS for the summer. And while many in the poker biz await the trip to Vegas for the “November Nine” at the WSOP final table, some of us may be secretly honing our bowling skills for the 2008 PBS, Part Deux. Bring it!

With a double-up on his first hand, and a favorable flop on his next push, we started to believe … alas, the World Series has ended for Whit, who repped Dallas, Texas, Pokerati, and average white guys with day jobs well.

Whit is now 2-for-2 when it comes to main event cashes. This year he’ll be bringing home 28,950 pre-tax American dollars to donk off in Oklahoma.

Net: +$18,950

Not bad for an extra-exciting summer trip to V-town.

Mean Gene’s official hand recount for PokerNews:

Whitney Blanton Eliminated

A few hands after doubling up against Adam Zinn, Whitney Blanton again moved all in and was called by Sarkis Akopyan. Blanton held to Akapyan’s and took the lead from Sarkis when the flop came . But the turn brought the , giving Akopyan the straight and leaving Whitney needing a king or queen for the full house. But the {4-Hearts} fell on the river and Blanton’s Main Event came to an end.

Was wondering why I couldn’t find proud Pokerati patch-wearer Whit Blanton … he’s on the feature table with an uber-tiny stack in a bad position against Jean-Robert Bellande and Phil Hellmuth. Whit starts the day with 50,500 chips, making him one of the shortest stacks to start on Day 4.

Jean-Robert ain’t too far behind with 124,500, and Hellmuth has 475,000. The chip leader at this table is Sarkis Akopyan with 858,000.

UPDATE: From Mean Gene, who is covering the ESPN table for PokerNews:

Jean-Robert Bellande Eliminated

And they’ll be showing this hand on TV, I think. Playing on the ESPN TV table Jean-Robert Bellande moved all in for his last 66,000 and was called by Sarkis Akopyan. Bellande’s led Akopyan’s and when the flop came it seemed certain that Bellande would double up.

The fell on the turn and Bellande slapped his hands together and said “Yes”, perhaps thinking that he had the hand locked up. But there was some murmuring in the crowd as everyone realized that Akopyan now had a gutshot straight draw.

The was the usual dramatic pause before the river was dealt…and when the dealer placed the on the felt there was a combined roar and moan from the crowd as Bellande fell to a brutal runner-runner straight and saw his Main Event come to an sudden end.

As action gets underway on day 2B, we’ve got a few players you may or may not know that we’ll be paying a little extra attention to. Be sure to check in with CSR for some chip reports from and about:

Whit Blanton — He’s a wannabe semi-pro from Dallas, who’s almost made enough money in poker to quit his job. He sat at the same table as Pokerati teammate (P-mates?) Tom Schneider on Day 1, and took a little extra pleasure in reclaiming the chips that Tom had given to Mark Newhouse … particularly doing so by cracking Newhizzle’s aces with a skillfully played 68s. Whit starts the day in strong chip position with 101,450. The question to him on Day 2 is how he will wield it, especially when fueled by the boost of confidence a near-double-up at the end of Day 1 provided.

Pat Poels — He’s a two-time bracelet-winner and host at Casino Arizona who’s had an “OK” WSOP. He’s made more money than most of his buddies this year, but hasn’t yet had the big score to make his 2008 WSOP highly profitable. He had some stretches of really good cards in Day 1, which forced him to make some really big/frustrating/difficult laydowns. He goes into Day 2 with 64,650 chips.

Jerry Randack — Jerry’s a well-rounded player who burst onto the scene with a strong 2nd-place finish in the 2007 Pokerati Invitational, and has since found much success at the small-tourney tables. He cashed in a NLH event at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge III, took 2nd in Triple-Draw Lowball in the Oklahoma State Poker Championship, and final tabled earlier this summer in a Binion’s Poker Classic PLO event. We’ll find out how he handles the Day 2 pressure of a short-ish stack — 29,700 — with blinds beginning to rise.

The Big Randy – TBR played comfortably throughout Day 1, and though he starts with a below-average stack — 27,100 — the self-proclaimed top-ranked all-around Batface (cash-game and tournament results) really likes the structure and recognizes the deep-stack nature of this tourney is still in play. “Feels like ‘05,” he says, referring to his first main event where he nursed a much shorter stack for four day before cashing for $40k.

Robert Goldfarb – After “Goldfarbing” his way into the main event, he sits with 21,025 chips and has just been playing his game … though the cards haven’t yet come and he hasn’t yet gained any real traction. How the start of Day 2 goes for him, I think will be critical.