Step Quest Setback

My Step quest has taken a big setback this weekend. I am determined to win an Aruba Trip at Ultimate Bet starting from a Step 1. A step 1 seat cost .11 cents and you have to work your way up to a $2500 Step 10 seat. Then have to finish in the top 2 in a Step 10 in order to win one of the packages. I have worked my way up the ladder to Step 10 twice already but not won a package. This time around I am in for .88 cents worth of Step 1s and have gotten up to Step 9 only to be denied. This weekend I lost my Step 2 and my Step 8 tickets, of course on the bubble in both. The Step 8 was just so brutal yesterday. On the bubble of winning a repeat Step ticket an early position player limps in and I shove from the button with pocket nines. I was getting short, only had 9 Big blinds left with the blinds at 100-200. It folds to the early position player who has my covered by 300 chips, so his call would leave him crippled if he lost. He snap calls me with A-J off and 4 flushes me on the turn! I hate his play in every way there. Don’t like my play either, should have pulled a stop and go on him. The flop came 4-6-7 of spades, I had the 9 of spades and he had the Jack. If I would have limped, could have seen a flop and shoved on him. He was a pretty bad player so he may have called with the Jack of Spades anyway. I’ll never now but try to learn from my play all the time, what else can I do. I lost my Step 2 playing A-K too aggressively against a donk who couldn’t fold his pocket threes for most of his stack! Tonight I will have to start the whole process over again. Happy Monday. Tony

P.S. - Please click through on my highlighted links inside this post, need to keep the lights on here.