Pulled Off a Decent Cash in SCOOP Event #1

I played the first SCOOP event on Pokerstars today and managed to cash in the top 10% of the field. It was the NLHE 6-max $5 rebuy and had a whopping 27000+ entrants. Initially there were only 4 players at my table and two were sitting out so I immediately began raising every pot and scooping up the dead money. Stupidly, I had failed to rebuy right out of the box, and so after about the first half-hour I ended up donking off a bunch of chips (with top pair no kicker vs. top pair good kicker) just so I could rebuy and get up to 5000 chips. Shortly after that I chipped up nicely when a player on the button tilt-shoved 50BB's with Ace-4 off and I snap-called with QQ in the blinds and it held. I made it to the end of the first level with 12000 chips after the add-on, which was slightly above average. Since I only had to rebuy once, I used $15.50 of the W$22 I had, leaving me with W$6.50 and making this tourney a freeroll as I had invested only $6.20 in the satellite to get the W$22.
The only big mistake I made on the day came halfway through the 2nd level. An opponent who played a lot of pots limped and I saw a free flop from the BB with 9-2 off and about 14000 chips. The flop came Ace-9-5, he min-bet, and I called (an image call - he could easily have no hand and it was a cheap call). A 9 turned, I checked again, and he checked. When the river came with a 5 I made a solid value-bet of about 400, hoping to get called by his probable ace-rag or even mid-pair but instead he raised it up to 1400. I thought that he was capable of making that raise with a big Ace or even a 5, and since he had called light a few times before I made it 3100 to go, only to have him fire back and make it 5100. I cried and called and hoped for a chop but oppt had slow-played Ace-9 and I lost over a third of my chips. I guess I could just call his first raise but I HAD A BOAT for cryin out loud...By the end of the level I had rebuilt my stack to 14500 thanks to the LAG on my right who finally played back at me when I had QQ. He was raising about half the hands preflop and I had reraised him a few times with big hands only to see him fold. This time he had raised to 300, I had reraised to 800 with about 8k behind, and he re-reraised me another 1200 or so, which was the first time he had 3-bet me. I decided to just call, see a flop, and basically hope it didn't have and Ace or King in it before I comitted the rest of my chips. The flop came 8s-8x-3s, he bet about 2200, I insta-shoved my remaining 6k or so, and he folded. I won a couple of small pots after that and got up to about 14500 by the end of the level.
The next 2 levels were like a kiddie roller coaster. At one point I had lost most of my chips on a failed bluff but then doubled up on the very next hand with AA. I then went on a heater, getting KK QQ and JJ in the course of about 5 hands. I doubled up off the LAG with KK in the small blind after he had reraised a 1200 raise and a call to 4200 with Ace-6 and called my 14k shove. Shortly after that LAG got knocked out and my table broke.
By the time we got close to the money bubble(a giant 5400 spots paid) I slowed down to ensure that I cashed. I played it pretty close to the vest as there were players who had me seriously out-chipped and I still had 20+ BB's so I could be patient. Just before the bubble I made a HUGE fold which turned out to be a GREAT fold. I had KsKd UTG, raised pre-flop, and got flat-called by the big stack. He had shown up at the table with over 100k chips, had chipped down to 90k or so by this time, and seemed to be playing super-tight despite his chip stack. The flop came Jh-Ts-6s, I bet out 3k with about 24k more behind, and he immediately made it 9k to go. I looked over at my wife and said "now what?" She said "call and see a turn card", and I agreed, so I did, the 7h. I checked and he shoved. At an earlier or later point in the tourney I probably go with my hand, but here, so close to the bubble, I thought instead. He saw me raise, bet the flop, and call a raise on the flop, but yet he still shoved the turn, so he's not scurred by whatever I'm holding. The only hands I really beat here that could make that play are QQ or AsJs, and he's not been out-of-line with any of his plays so even those hands seemed unlikely. After using about a minute of my time bank, I folded and typed "kings" in the chat box. He SHOWED AA. Nobody at the table could believe I'd folded Kings. But it's true.
I was able to survive thru to the end of level 5 on a very short stack. First hand back from the break, I'm UTG with about 10k chips at 800/1600 and have two red 9's. ONE more person needed to be eliminated for me to move up to the next money level, so I time-banked until that happened and shoved. A player behind me reshoved AQo, and the board came 7-A-7-10-x. I ended up in 2380th place, good for $39.15. I was extremely pleased with the way I played, and am very satisifed to have done well in a 6-max event as short-handed games are not my strength. Next up - the Saturday VIP freeroll and $11 Omaha at 1430. C U at the tables !